Student Union
Young Investors Eager to Learn Stock Market
Investors younger than 34 surveyed by a financial services company said student debt, health care costs and financial jargon are barriers between them and investing.
Of the 898 surveyed, 61% of the young investors said education costs, or paying down student loans, are the biggest barriers to retirement, tied with health care costs (61%), according to ETrade Financial Services, which conducted the poll.
And financial jargon continued to confound, respondents said. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of the Gen Z and millennial investors note that financial jargon hinders their ability to invest on their own. That was an increase of 8% from last year’s survey.
Interest in investing was on the upswing, according to the poll. Over half (57%) said they have become more likely in the past three months to use sophisticated software like a dedicated trading platform. Nearly half (49%) said they're more likely to seek out professional investment advice.
Understanding how the market works interested the respondents more than other finance subjects. Young investors said they were most interested in taking a class on the markets (43%) over one on saving for retirement (38%). This opinion shift comes amid increased retail engagement among young investors.
"Young investors are true digital natives and have high expectations for any web or mobile experience, but it's clear that they're also open to a bit more traditional support when it comes to their finances," said Mike Loewengart, managing director of Investment Strategy at E*TRADE Financial in a press release.
Loewengart offered additional advice:
It's easy to get caught up in the latest stock fad, so keeping emotions in check and remaining aligned to long-term goals is key.
Don't attempt to time the market. Chasing performance is a risky business – you're always looking in the rear-view mirror. While historical data can be helpful, it bears repeating that past performance does not guarantee future results. So, while we've mostly experienced a bull market over the past year, consider that the market cannot go up forever. And at the end of the day, market volatility is part of a healthy market, so becoming comfortable with the ups and downs is crucial.
Consider automatic investing. One way to build good financial habits is to set up automatic deposits into a retirement or brokerage account. While you cannot control the market or your investing returns, you can control how much you add to your account.
The survey was conducted in July in the U.S. of 898 “self-directed active investors who manage at least $10,000 in an online brokerage account,” ETrade stated.
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Police arrest 33 at George Washington University protest encampment
Police in Washington cleared a pro-Palestinian protest encampment at George Washington University early Wednesday, arresting 33 people, authorities said.
Arrests were made on charges of assault on a police officer and unlawful entry, the District of Columbia's Metropolitan Police Department said.
A congressional committee canceled a hearing on the university encampment Wednesday. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Washington Police Chief Pamela Smith had been scheduled to testify about the city’s handling of the protest before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
University parents and faculty members gathered Wednesday afternoon for a press conference to condemn the handling of the protests by police and school leaders.
“The university clearly does not value the students at all and has endangered the safety of our children by unleashing officers dressed in full riot gear to assault and spray our children in their eyes with pepper spray,” said Hala Amer, whose son participated in the campus protests.
Police said they dispersed demonstrators because "there has been a gradual escalation in the volatility of the protest."
American University professor Barbara Wien said she stayed in the encampment with GW students. She described the student protesters as democratic and peaceful.
Police started to shut down the tent encampment after dozens of protesters marched to GW President Ellen Granberg's on-campus home on Tuesday night. Police were called, but no arrests were made.
Speakers at the conference called for Granberg’s resignation because, they alleged, she refused to meet and negotiate with student protesters.
“You keep inciting violence and ignoring the students,” Amer said about Granberg in an interview with VOA after the conference. “It will just lead to more violence. You need to talk to your students.”
GW officials warned students that they could be suspended for engaging in protests at the school’s University Yard, an outdoor spot on the campus.
"While the university is committed to protecting students' rights to free expression, the encampment had evolved into an unlawful activity, with participants in direct violation of multiple university policies and city regulations," a GW statement said.
More than 2,600 people have been arrested at universities across the country in pro-Palestinian protests, according to The Associated Press.
Students are calling on their university administrations to divest investments from Israel or companies with ties to Israel. Demonstrators have gathered in at least 50 campuses since April 17, carrying signs that read "Free Palestine" and "Hands off Rafah."
Rafah is Gaza’s southernmost city, where most of the territory’s population has clustered. The area is also a corridor for bringing humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory.
Israel seized the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing on Tuesday, while shutting off the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing, drawing criticism from humanitarian groups. Israel said Wednesday that it had reopened Kerem Shalom.
The nationwide campus protests started in response to Israel's offensive in Gaza that began after Hamas launched a terror attack on Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages.
More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel warned it could "deepen" its operation in Rafah if talks failed to secure the release of the hostages.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
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