1st Place (tie)
Nola Z. 5th Grade – Kettering Elementary School
The Stock Market Game
In my stock market game experience I learned all about diversification, stocks, portfolio, long and short term goals, bonds, risk, mutual funds, and more. My team and I bought several stocks and overall I would say that we are doing not too bad. I learned a lot about money and how to handle it.
After playing the Stock Market Game my team and I bought multiple stocks that were incredible, so it was hard to pick my favorite, but overall my favorite investment that my team invested in was Eli Lilly. At first we bought shares from this company because its portfolio was great and we had all agreed to buy shares from it. In my mind I thought that getting a company I never heard about would be a big risk, however this investment proved me wrong. Ever since we bought shares from Eli Lilly we have gained a lot of money and not to mention that Eli Lilly has great value. My team and I definitely made the right decision investing in it and I could not be happier.
My least favorite investment was Yum. This surprised me because Yum is a company that sells food through multiple restaurants such as KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and the Habit Burger Grill. All of these fast food places are very popular so my team and I bought shares from them. However, this investment was a complete downfall. I then got sad because our investment was losing us money instead of making us some. Although I was sad I was also happy because now I know that even if it is popular or has some of my favorite places, it may not be the best financially.
What I think is important when thinking about investing in the long term is knowing the importance of being patient. The reason why I say this is because a long term goal is something you achieve in the future. This means you will have to wait a while before you can get what you want. For example, let’s say you want to buy a house. To get a house, you will not have enough money in a week. This is why you will need to be patient. A long term goal usually takes a year or more so being patient is one of the things that is important. Another thing that is important when thinking about investing for the long term is diversifying. Diversifying investments help long term investments become successful by giving you more chances. The idiom “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” is one of the best ways to describe diversifying. When you are diversifying you are putting shares into multiple companies. This way if a company failed, you would still have the others to keep you financially stable.
Playing the Stock Market Game has taught me many things about long term investing that can be applied to the real world. I have learned the importance of diversifying, saving money, and using my money wisely. When I was younger I would waste all my money on random things that I really didn’t need. Now that I’m older, I save my money and try to grow it so I will have it for something more important down the line. I am confident in my future after playing the stock market game because I will go into the adult world knowing how to budget my hard earned money.
I love learning about investments and sharing it at home with my family. My dad also plays the stock market, but in real life. I enjoy comparing all the things I’ve learned to what he is doing. When I am older, I will definitely continue to make investments.
I absolutely loved my time playing the Stock Market Game. This experience was amazing and I hope to continue learning about it. I now feel so confident when I think of money and know that I will not grow up clueless about handling it. I love the Stock Market Game.
In my stock market game experience I learned all about diversification, stocks, portfolio, long and short term goals, bonds, risk, mutual funds, and more. My team and I bought several stocks and overall I would say that we are doing not too bad. I learned a lot about money and how to handle it.
After playing the Stock Market Game my team and I bought multiple stocks that were incredible, so it was hard to pick my favorite, but overall my favorite investment that my team invested in was Eli Lilly. At first we bought shares from this company because its portfolio was great and we had all agreed to buy shares from it. In my mind I thought that getting a company I never heard about would be a big risk, however this investment proved me wrong. Ever since we bought shares from Eli Lilly we have gained a lot of money and not to mention that Eli Lilly has great value. My team and I definitely made the right decision investing in it and I could not be happier.
My least favorite investment was Yum. This surprised me because Yum is a company that sells food through multiple restaurants such as KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and the Habit Burger Grill. All of these fast food places are very popular so my team and I bought shares from them. However, this investment was a complete downfall. I then got sad because our investment was losing us money instead of making us some. Although I was sad I was also happy because now I know that even if it is popular or has some of my favorite places, it may not be the best financially.
What I think is important when thinking about investing in the long term is knowing the importance of being patient. The reason why I say this is because a long term goal is something you achieve in the future. This means you will have to wait a while before you can get what you want. For example, let’s say you want to buy a house. To get a house, you will not have enough money in a week. This is why you will need to be patient. A long term goal usually takes a year or more so being patient is one of the things that is important. Another thing that is important when thinking about investing for the long term is diversifying. Diversifying investments help long term investments become successful by giving you more chances. The idiom “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” is one of the best ways to describe diversifying. When you are diversifying you are putting shares into multiple companies. This way if a company failed, you would still have the others to keep you financially stable.
Playing the Stock Market Game has taught me many things about long term investing that can be applied to the real world. I have learned the importance of diversifying, saving money, and using my money wisely. When I was younger I would waste all my money on random things that I really didn’t need. Now that I’m older, I save my money and try to grow it so I will have it for something more important down the line. I am confident in my future after playing the stock market game because I will go into the adult world knowing how to budget my hard earned money.
I love learning about investments and sharing it at home with my family. My dad also plays the stock market, but in real life. I enjoy comparing all the things I’ve learned to what he is doing. When I am older, I will definitely continue to make investments.
I absolutely loved my time playing the Stock Market Game. This experience was amazing and I hope to continue learning about it. I now feel so confident when I think of money and know that I will not grow up clueless about handling it. I love the Stock Market Game.
1st Place (tie)
Emmi L. 5th Grade – Kettering Elementary School
InvestWrite Competition Essay
When I first started my Financial Literacy class, I have to admit, it was a little confusing. I didn’t know what a large cap company was, or what the PE ratio meant. I ended up learning a lot on how to be a smart investor and the meaning of a diverse portfolio. It was fun to work with my team and learn what it takes to be a good and smart investor. We made money, and lost money, but it taught us how to diversify in different industries.
I did have some stocks that made more money than others for many reasons. My favorite stock was Apple because it made the most money. We invested in it at the right time because they had just come out with the new iphone 17 and it was selling like crazy! I also knew that it was a great company to invest in because I always see teens and adults with iphones and Apple watches, so I know that they are great products.
However, with a great investment also comes an investment that did not do so good. These were our shares in Microsoft. We lost approximately $ 341.43 dollars just in shares of Microsoft. We knew right away that it was going to be a risky investment because of their AI. They made Open AI and ChatGPT, and a lot of people feel that AI is taking over the planet and they are not happy about it. This is also a factor of why the Microsoft shares were going down. I also learned on Yahoo Finance that they had spent way too much money on their AI apps.
It is very important to diversify when you are investing for a long term goal because companies change and that can make you money and lose you money. Since the Stock Market Game isn’t long term, my team and I probably didn’t diversify as much as we could have, which would have made us a lot of money if this was long term. We have mostly stocks in the tech industry, but we also have some in food and finance. If the tech industry had gone down, we would have lost a lot of money, but we would still be floating with our other investments that are not in the tech industry. So, it is important to not put all your eggs in one basket in case you lose money.
My experience with the Stock Market Game and investing was very useful to help me learn about investing and how to be a smart investor. I learned that it is great to diversify and I will use that knowledge when I grow up and am investing. Now that I know about diversifying, I will invest in all different industries. I know that long term investing is great for meeting your goals. I really want to go to a good art college and investing could help me and my family afford it. This is a good goal that could be accomplished by the help of the money I make from being a smart investor. To make this goal, I need to have a good diversified portfolio just in case one industry goes down, so I won’t lose all of the money I made.
My time during financial literacy really helped me gain the knowledge I need to be a smart investor. I learned what it means to have a good diversified portfolio and to invest in different industries. I also learned that I should research my stocks before investing in them. This is why my time in financial literacy was very helpful to me.
When I first started my Financial Literacy class, I have to admit, it was a little confusing. I didn’t know what a large cap company was, or what the PE ratio meant. I ended up learning a lot on how to be a smart investor and the meaning of a diverse portfolio. It was fun to work with my team and learn what it takes to be a good and smart investor. We made money, and lost money, but it taught us how to diversify in different industries.
I did have some stocks that made more money than others for many reasons. My favorite stock was Apple because it made the most money. We invested in it at the right time because they had just come out with the new iphone 17 and it was selling like crazy! I also knew that it was a great company to invest in because I always see teens and adults with iphones and Apple watches, so I know that they are great products.
However, with a great investment also comes an investment that did not do so good. These were our shares in Microsoft. We lost approximately $ 341.43 dollars just in shares of Microsoft. We knew right away that it was going to be a risky investment because of their AI. They made Open AI and ChatGPT, and a lot of people feel that AI is taking over the planet and they are not happy about it. This is also a factor of why the Microsoft shares were going down. I also learned on Yahoo Finance that they had spent way too much money on their AI apps.
It is very important to diversify when you are investing for a long term goal because companies change and that can make you money and lose you money. Since the Stock Market Game isn’t long term, my team and I probably didn’t diversify as much as we could have, which would have made us a lot of money if this was long term. We have mostly stocks in the tech industry, but we also have some in food and finance. If the tech industry had gone down, we would have lost a lot of money, but we would still be floating with our other investments that are not in the tech industry. So, it is important to not put all your eggs in one basket in case you lose money.
My experience with the Stock Market Game and investing was very useful to help me learn about investing and how to be a smart investor. I learned that it is great to diversify and I will use that knowledge when I grow up and am investing. Now that I know about diversifying, I will invest in all different industries. I know that long term investing is great for meeting your goals. I really want to go to a good art college and investing could help me and my family afford it. This is a good goal that could be accomplished by the help of the money I make from being a smart investor. To make this goal, I need to have a good diversified portfolio just in case one industry goes down, so I won’t lose all of the money I made.
My time during financial literacy really helped me gain the knowledge I need to be a smart investor. I learned what it means to have a good diversified portfolio and to invest in different industries. I also learned that I should research my stocks before investing in them. This is why my time in financial literacy was very helpful to me.