SDSU’s Future Financial Planners Compete to Address Retirement Income Challenges
Two teams of graduate students in Professor Ning Tang’s Personal Financial Planning (FIN 589)class are participating in the iOme (I Owe Me) essay competition, where teams propose solutions to a national retirement policy challenge.
For the 2026 competition, the teams are asked to “bring a new perspective to the Independent Commission of Retirement Security and to develop a comprehensive proposal to improve one or all of the three pillars of the nation’s retirement system for all generations in order to improve their chances of living a financially secure retirement.”
“This competition will prompt our students to take a deep dive into the three main sources of retirement income — Social Security, employer-sponsored pension plans, and individual savings — as they examine potential solutions addressing challenges within the system,” said Tang. “Under the guidance of the professor, students will go through the academic research writing process, from reviewing evidence and literature and selecting a topic to drafting and revising their paper.”
The submission deadline is May 10. The winning team will be announced later that month and will share $5000 prize and a stipend to travel to Washington, D.C. where they will present their proposal at a policy forum on Capitol Hill.
