Introduce the activity saying:

Investing is a powerful tool you can use to build your wealth over a long period of time. How does it work?

Note: Prepare students to work collaboratively with a partner.

Have your students answer these questions and watch the following videos with a partner. After each video, encourage students to continue discussing the content with their partner:

What do you know about investing?

Watch this video to define investments and assets: What is an Investment? 

Is investing something you plan to do? 

Why or why not?

What’s compound interest? 

Watch the video on compound interest: Investopedia Video: Compound Interest Explained.

How can you harness the power of compound interest when saving and investing? 

What steps will you take to include it in your financial plan?

Have students answer individually: Thinking back about all that you have learned to this point about finances, how will you plan to save for retirement? 

Have students answer individually: How much money will you need to continue your lifestyle? 

Read this article, individually: How much money you need to retire at every age and comfortably live on investment income. Summarize each section of the article, highlighting key takeaways and include notes that could affect your personal retirement estimate.  

Individually, use a Retirement Calculator, like this one, to determine the estimated amount you’ll need for retirement to continue your lifestyle. 

Why do you think it’s important to plan financially for retirement? 

For the final activity, have students review the bar graphs and answer the corresponding questions. (Optional) Read the corresponding article here: This generation is way behind on saving for retirement. Here’s how they can catch up.

Assess the bar graph; do you think that the Millennial generation is making smart money and lifestyle choices in regards to their retirement savings? Explain your reasoning. 

Review the bar graph; reflecting on what you have learned about financial planning thus far, which trade-offs will you be willing to make in order to save for retirement? 

Have students complete the final questions about investment and retirement then have them submit the assignment for grading.

After students finish the partner assignment, as a whole group read through this infographic and answer questions from students as you move through the graphic. Use this time to check for understanding about investment, simple and compound interest, and retirement. Using questions from their partner activity, pose questions if needed:

What’s investment, and why is it important? 

Why do you earn more money using compound interest than you would using simple interest?  

Why do you think it’s important to plan financially for retirement?