https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-invest-a-22-year-olds-tough-questions-about-capitalism-11579882164?emailToken=1f6f40da21c2a67f4c5d3cefc394a4ef321sWZm7l91akMf29D3jectUr4s5BbuodUHQ15r53k/VLpRgJBHlM22HDkmaMULdEvcS+gzG9uVohhM7aK9jCLO6LA0M+fnOjtCyjC04thC/WhtPLrayQCYOxOlP4FsD&reflink=article_email_share
A few days ago, a smart 22-year-old asked me how to invest some savings from her first job. I advised her to open an individual retirement account. When she found out she couldn’t withdraw it without penalty until she turns 59 1/2, she shot back: “By then the planet will be a rotating cinder!”
The many young people who seem to share her gloomy view of the future should read the new book by Laurence B. Siegel, “Fewer, Richer, Greener.” In it, he proclaims, “We are on the verge of the greatest democratization of wealth and well-being that the world has ever known.”
Christopher K. Merker, PhD, CFA, is a director with Private Asset Management at Robert W. Baird & Co. and executive-in-residence and co-director of the Marquette S-Lab. He is also founder and chair of the board of Water + Energy Forward, a green bank focused on market-based climate solutions. He holds a PhD in investment governance and fiduciary effectiveness from Marquette University, where he has taught “Sustainable Finance” since 2009. He publishes
Sustainable Finance and is co-author of
The Trustee Governance Guide: The Five Imperatives of 21st Century Investing.
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