Personal Retirement Plan Assignment:

A 15-20 page (excluding appendices, table of contents, abstract, reference, and bibliography) APA research paper is required. This paper will be prepared consistent with the current APA Manual and will have a minimum of ten different references. You will identify the following factors to develop your personal retirement plan:

1. Conduct research to evaluate and analyze the impact of how changes in fiscal policy and monetary policy can impact retirement savings. Research needs to include how changes in interest rates, taxes rates, and polices that can impact savings (IRA's, 401 K) can impact retirement plans.

2. Discuss how personal risk tolerances can impact the type of assets included in a retirement plan.

3. Discuss the relationship between risk and return and how this will impact the amount of money that will need to be saved for retirement.

4. Discuss factors that need to be considered when developing a retirement plan (age, single/married, dependents, health, expected life expectancy, other sources of income like social security and pensions).

5. Evaluate and discuss the implications of the time value of money.

6. Evaluate and discuss how the allocation of retirement assets changes as a person gets older.

7. Develop a personal retirement plan that includes the total amount that needs to be saved by retirement, a timeline of saving/withdrawals both before and after retirement, and how the percentage of their portfolio will be allocated to different asset classifications both before and after retirement.

8. Determine the amount of investment risk that you are willing to take before and after retirement. Provide and justify what percentage of your portfolio will be allocated to different asset classifications (stocks, bonds, real estate) both before and after retirement.

Activity Overview and Step-by-Step Processes:

Write a 15-20 page APA research paper. You should use the ASU Library to locate both peer reviewed sources and reputable financial sources. You follow the following steps:

1. Conduct research on how changes in fiscal policy and monetary policy can impact retirement savings. Research needs to include how changes in interest rates, taxes rates, and polices that can impact savings (IRA's, 401 K) can impact retirement plans.

2. Research how personal risk tolerances can impact the type of assets included in a retirement plan.

3. Research how the relationship between risk and return can impact the amount of money that will need to be saved for retirement.

4. Research what factors that need to be considered when developing a retirement plan (age, single/married, dependents, health, expected life expectancy, other sources of income like social security and pensions).

5. Research the time value of money.

6. Research the different types of allocations used for retirement assets based on a person's age.

7. Using the data collect in the above steps, write a research paper that address the seven factors listed in the assignment section above.