Assignment 1: LASA: Understanding 401(k) and IRAs

For this assignment, you will prepare a PowerPoint presentation evaluating and explaining the 401(k) and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) at a local community center, where you have been invited to speak. The audience will be a group of people who already work for companies that provide a 401(k) plan, so they are familiar with the basic concepts. The goal of the presentation is to explain to the audience the differences between the 401(k) and IRAs. Include the following:

• Explain which account would earn more money for the investor: a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA. Support your statements with reasons and examples.

• Describe how people can identify their federal tax brackets.

• Use the following hypothetical questions/situations to explain the retirement plans in further detail.
  1. If you were to invest $3,500 in traditional IRA and a Roth IRA, after making adjustments for possible tax deductions, what would your net contributionbe for both the traditional and Roth IRA? Explain any differences your research shows.
  2. Once the traditional IRA or Roth IRA is established, you decide to invest the proceeds in a mutual fund. Identify the type of mutual fund you would select. Examples include stocks, bonds, or a balanced mutual fund. Using the Internet, research and select a specific mutual fund that meets your desired risk tolerance. You can use examples of mutual fund companies such as Oppenheimer and Franklin Templeton. Be sure to justify your selection.
  3. Based on the average annual return on the mutual fund selected, you invest $3,500 for thirty years without withdrawing any of the proceeds. How large would the balance be at the end of thirty years? Include your calculations in your presentation.
  4. To avoid the process of probate, and ensure that the balance in this fund transfers upon death to a person of your choice, explain how this account should be set up to ensure a prompt and direct transfer.
  5. As an employee of an organization, you may have access to invest in a 401(k) plan. Explain what a 401(k) plan is as well as its benefits. When one has the option to utilize a 401(k) from an employer, explain what restrictions are in place to limit 401(k) contribution?

Support your statements with examples and scholarly references. Remember to include detailed speakers’ notes to include additional remarks that could be used as a script when presenting to a live audience. Develop an 8–10-slide presentation in PowerPoint format. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M5_A1.ppt.

4. In a pilot study evaluating the use of a new drug to lower resting heart rates (HR) of patients, the following data was recorded:

Subject #	Resting HR
001	72
002	88
003	71
004	87
005	64
006	77
007	79
008	59
009	66
010	68
011	78
012	89
013	91
014	81
015	77
016	75
017	69

Given that the average resting HR of the general population for this study is 72, use StatCrunch to perform the appropriate t test. What is the value of t? Using an alpha of 0.05, is the t statistic significant? Why? What are the confidence limits for a 95% confidence interval here and what do they mean for this patient group? Copy and Paste your work from StatCrunch into your Word document submission.

5. Write one or two sentences that could be used to report the results obtained for the t-test in Exercise 4.

6. For which of the following situations is the independent groups t-test appropriate (if inappropriate, why?):

a. The independent variable is infant birth weight at one week (normal vs high); the dependent variable is resting heart rate.

b. The independent variable is radiation treatment on throat cancer patients (after a low dose and then a high dose treatment); the dependent variable is white blood cell count.

c. The IV is infant birth weight (low vs normal birth weight); the DV is number of days absent from school in first grade.

d. The IV is gender (male vs female); the DV is compliance vs noncompliance with a medication regimen.

e. The independent variable is married status (single vs divorced vs married); the dependent variable is happiness measured on a scale from 1 to 50

7. For which of the following situations is the dependent groups t-test appropriate (if not appropriate, why?)

a. The IV is presence or absence of conversation directed to comatose patients (same patients with and without conversation); the DV is the patients’ intracranial pressure.

b. The IV is birth type (home vs hospital); the DV is perceived functional ability of the patient 48 hours after surgery.

c. The IV is time since incarceration (1 months vs 3 months vs 6 months); the DV is body weight.

d. The IV is menopausal state (pre vs post); the DV is attitudes toward menopause.

e. The IV is nap therapy for narcoleptics (same patients before vs after treatment); the DV is the type of nap they had the following week (had unplanned vs didn’t have unplanned nap).

8. Suppose we wanted to test the hypothesis that a control group of cancer patients (Group 1) would report higher mean pain ratings than an experimental group receiving special massage treatments (Group 2). Use the following information. Compute a t-statistic for independent groups:

mean group 1 = 78.1 SD²₁ = 42.1 n₁ = 25

mean group 2 = 75.1 SD²₂ = 39.7 n₂=25

What are the degrees of freedom and the value of t ? Using α=0.05 for a two-tailed test, is this t statistic significant? Show your calculations (or StatCrunch output) for full credit.

9. Write one or two sentences that could be used to report the results obtained for the t-test in Exercise 8.

10. For each of the following t values, indicate whether the t is statistically significant for a two-tailed test, at the specified alphas:

a. F = 4.80, df = 4, 40 α = 0.01

b. F = 5.02, df = 3, 60, α = 0.001

c. F = 3.45, df = 3, 27, α = 0.05

d. F = 4.99, df = 2, 150, α = 0.01

e. F = 2.09, df = 2, 250, α = 0.05