Hsoi Blogs, You Decide

My colleague from KR Training, the Mighty Hsoi, took the same Dynamic First Aid class on Saturday that I took on Sunday.  I planned to blog about my experiences, but after I read his account, I decided his was better than anything I would write.  I commend it to you. 

Young People Are Planning For Retirement...Yet They Don't Know The Basics

I thought I would be warmed by this story of young adults taking responsibility for their own retirement planning, having reached the inescapable conclusion early on in their lives that their grandparents and great grandparents have completely bankrupted our country.  Yet the more I read, the more disillusioned I became. 

For example, read what Jenny Stein, a 27-year-old senior tax accountant for Ernst & Young, had to say about planning for her retirement:

“I have a 401(k) with Fidelity through work, but it’s confusing. People say you need to be aggressive with your asset classes when you’re young. I don’t know what that means."

Think about this for a moment.  You're a senior tax accountant at E&Y (and as I am married to CPA and former Senior Manager from E&Y, I know you don't get to be a senior at a place like E&Y unless you know a thing or two), and yet you don't know what being aggressive with your asset classes within your 401(k) means?  So why is it then when I simply Google "401k aggressive investment" I get this link as my first response, which gives me at least some clue as to what I need to know?

I'm quite sure Ms. Stein is a bright woman.  What I don't understand is how someone who is a tax accountant at a major accounting firm can't figure out what aggressive investing means.