John F. Kennedy

8G History Lesson 135 Assignment

In this assignment, I will summarize the life and accomplishments of John F. Kennedy, also known as JFK.

Childhood and Early Career

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917 in Massachusetts. He was the second of nine children, and his parents were Roman Catholics. His father was a multi-millionaire businessman. John joined the U.S. navy in 1941, and when his time serving was up, he returned home in 1945 to pursue a career in politics. The war impacted him for the rest of his life, he suffered from many sustained injuries, and he also had Addison disease. This didn’t stop him from pursuing a career in politics.

Career in Politics

At age 29, he decided to run for Congress. He easily beat his opponent, and served 3 terms in the House of Representatives as a liberal Democrat. After his terms in the House, he ran for Senate, and again easily won.

As senator, Kennedy wanted to abolish the Electoral College vote, protested for labor reform, and supported civil rights legislation. Slowly, Kennedy achieved higher levels of recognition, and then decided to run for president in the 1960 election.

In the 1960 election, Kennedy and vice president Lyndon B. Johnson barely defeated Richard Nixon, Kennedy became the youngest president ever, at the age of 43.

Kennedy’s main accomplishments as president included helping to avoid a potential nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis, helping to lay the foundations for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and challenging a man to land on the moon by the end of the century. Kennedy also increased the military presence in the Vietnam war, and cut taxes.

On Friday, November 22, 1963, JFK was riding with his wife Jacqueline Kennedy (whom he married in 1953) in a procession in Dallas, Texas, when suddenly he was struck by two bullets. He died shortly after arriving at the hospital. Lyndon Johnson took the oath of office to become president the next day. On the same day, Lee Oswald was accused of the assassination, but it remains a controversy today. Nobody has been able to explain Lee’s motives as to why he committed the act.

Kennedy is often remembered as one of the greatest presidents, but sadly, he didn’t really have much time to accomplish anything outstanding. His family line still lives on today. U.S. politician Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is JFK’s nephew.

Reference:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-F-Kennedy

How I Would Invest $2000

Personal Finance Lesson 145 Assignment

In this assignment, I will be breaking down how I would invest $2000 if someone gave it to me and had to keep it invested for at least 5 years. Then, I will explain why I picked my investments.

If I was given $2000, I would make sure to diversify my investments. Here is what I would invest in. The number is how much of the $2000 I would invest in that particular thing.

I would invest the majority in Bitcoin, because it is scarce (there will only ever be 21,000,000 bitcoin) and in high demand. The demand will most likely keep increasing as more and more people realize that it is one of the best and most powerful currencies out there. It is also decentralized, meaning that no one person or government makes the rules about bitcoin. I would also invest in gold, which is also very scarce and in very high demand. The S&P 500 is another thing I would invest in. This will help to diversify my investing portfolio. It is also fairly inexpensive, and less risky than buying single stocks, which I had considered.

Thanks for reading!

Also, if you are interested in bitcoin or want to learn more about it, here are some resources:

https://www.bitcoin.org

https://www.lopp.net/bitcoin-information.html

My Top 5 Investing Tips

Personal Finance Lesson 140 Assignment

In this assignment, I will be giving 5 tips of investing advice. (Note: I am not by any means an investment professional, this is a required school assignment!)

Top 5 Investing Tips

  1. Diversify: This is one of the most important things to do when investing in anything. If you invest only in one stock and that stock drops, you would lose a lot of money! Diversification helps minimize your losses and maximize your gains.
  2. Use index funds: Index funds are an easy way to diversify, and they can help reduce transaction fees. It is less expensive to buy index funds than each of the individual stocks.
  3. Research: Things will change over time, so investment advice given years ago may not be as relevant today. Make sure you do your research so you know what you are getting into.
  4. Pay attention to your investments: This seems obvious, but make sure you are regularly checking on your investments to see how they are doing. If you need to, you can sell off or buy more assets.
  5. Make an emergency fund: A very important one! Set aside some cash or easily exchangeable assets, so that you have extra funds for an emergency. Make sure they are easily exchangeable, you don’t want to have real estate as your emergency fund!

These are my top 5 investing tips. I didn’t recommend specific stocks or investments, that is up to you! Personally, I would invest in bitcoin, gold and other precious metals, and stocks or index funds.

If you have any other tips you would like to add, please comment below.

America in the 1950’s

8G History Lesson 130 Assignment

In this assignment, I will be summarizing the events and culture in America during the 1950’s.

Civil Rights Movement

The 50’s saw increased awareness of the civil rights movement. This was a time when America was segregated. Schools, restaurants, pools, parks, and even water fountains were segregated, separating the Black and White facilities. This was extremely unfair, and people had been against it for a long time, but the movement was brought to light in the 50’s. One of the significant events was the Montgomery bus boycott. This started when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white person that got on the bus. Black Americans at the time were expected to give up their seats anytime a white person got onto the bus. This sparked a full-on boycott of the bus system in Montgomery, with Martin Luther King Jr. as the leader. It lasted almost a whole year.

There were also many other acts of protest, including marches. A famous one was the Selma march. Tragically, many people that peacefully protested during the marches were brutally hurt and sometimes killed by the police force, as in the Bloody Sunday event during the Selma march. The issues of racial equality are still prominent today, and movements such as Black Lives Matter have gained popularity.

Television and Music

Television became very common in American households during the 1950’s. In 1950, only about 9 percent of Americans owned a television set, but by the end of the 50’s it was nearing 90 percent. Popular shows included I Love Lucy, Leave It to Beaver, and many others. Quiz shows also became popular. Today, over 96 percent of Americans have a TV.

A new type of music became popular in the 50’s. Called rock and roll, it was a hybrid of many different styles. One of the first and most famous rock and roll artist was none other than the great Elvis Presley. Rock and roll remains one of the most (if not the most) popular genres of music today.

References:

https://www.britannica.com/event/American-civil-rights-movement

https://www.britannica.com/art/television-in-the-United-States/The-late-Golden-Age

https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States/Popular-music

How My Life Plans Have Changed in the Last 6 Months

Personal Finance Lesson 135

In this assignment, I will write how my life plans have changed in the past 6 months as a result of this course.

In the Personal Finance course so far, I have learned many important skills. My life plans have changed in a few ways:

  • Time Management: I have been managing my time more than I had been before taking this course. I use a weekly planner, a calendar, and a checklist (both paper and digital versions). I feel that this has helped me manage my time better. I hope to continue doing this.
  • Investing: I have also learned some valuable investing skills, and I want to look into different forms of investing, such as stocks, precious metals, and Bitcoin.
  • Writing skills: This isn’t really a way that my life plans have changed, but my writing skills have certainly improved. Now that I think about it, this could bring up some potential job opportunities!
  • College: I still haven’t decided whether or not I want to go to college, but this course has given me valuable insight and it will help me make a decision later.

These are all ways that my plans have changed. Hopefully I can implement the skills learned in this course, and use them to my benefit.