Results for econ161

The financial economics of how retirement is financed, particularly in the US. Topics: basic finance concepts necessary for understanding individual retirement savings. Properties of financial instruments such as bonds and stocks. Optimization of individual retirement account or 401(k) portfolios. Defined benefit pensions. Measuring defined benefit pension liabilities. Impact of defined benefit pension liabilities on corporate, state, and local budgeting. The economics of national retirement policy including Social Security and government treatment of private retirement savings. All students must have the ability to use spreadsheets, and basic probability and statistics concepts including random variables, expected value, variance, covariance, and simple estimation and regression. Undergraduates should have taken ECON 50 or equivalent (can take it concurrently).