Members of Generation Z (ages 12 to 27) are continuing to move into the workforce, and they are beginning to save for retirement. If you were born between 1997 and 2012, let's talk.

I'm all for starting to save for retirement as soon as you start to earn wages, for a very simple reason: The longer you have before retirement to save and invest, the more retirement security you can create for yourself. That's the magic of compounding. (Read more about compounding at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -- tinyurl.com/ymyv8bkn.)

Even a 12-year-old can earn money by doing odd jobs, such as mowing lawns or babysitting, and put some or all of those earnings into a Roth IRA of his or her own. (A parent will need to be the custodian or guardian. See an example of how it works at Fidelity Investments -- tinyurl.com/ms2eytnh.)

If you need some motivation to get started, consider this: You are a generation in which the full retirement age for Social Security retirement benefits is currently 67, yet the latest report from the Social Security and Medicare Board of Trustees indicates that the federal retirement program will only be able to pay 100% of total scheduled benefits until 2035 -- when the oldest of you will be 38 (tinyurl.com/npxc2yse).

You may tell me that you don't want to think that far ahead. That's how more than half of you feel, based on a recently released Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies' 24th Annual Retirement Survey of Workers that surveyed Gen Z's who were 18 years old or older and were working part or full time (tinyurl.com/yb2epyrz). Fifty-three percent either strongly or somewhat agreed with this statement: "I prefer not to think about or concern myself with retirement investing until I get closer to my retirement date." From my perspective, that's a clear giveaway of not understanding that time is the essential element that drives compounding.

Some Gen Z members surveyed are planning on living to age 100 or older (18%), and 15% plan to live into their 90s. These can be realistic assessments, since we are living longer (the life expectancy at age 65 for the U.S. population rose to 83.9 years old in 2022, according to the National Center for Health Statistics -- tinyurl.com/4f3z93sk). That means that Gen Z's will need enough retirement savings to support themselves for four decades after they stop working.

The time to start planning is now. Guessing how much of an effort is needed is not a good idea, yet 47% of Gen Z's surveyed did just that. They guessed about savings goals -- again, not a good idea.

This is where the need for financial literacy education at earlier ages becomes apparent. The Next Gen Personal Finance website (ngpf.org) provides financial education resources for teachers, with the organization's goal being that by 2030, every high school student will graduate having taken a one-semester course on personal finance.

To further your own knowledge outside of school, look for credible resources. Investor.gov is a website of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The site's Introduction to Investing section (tinyurl.com/3fkbnker) features details on various investment products and retirement plans, as well as the Roadmap to Saving and Investing.

FINRA, which regulates the U.S. bond market, provides sections on personal finance (tinyurl.com/bdtmbhry), investing (tinyurl.com/muyuj33k) and protecting your money from fraud (tinyurl.com/bdf9jd3t).

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau offers helpful information on how to create and maintain an emergency savings fund at tinyurl.com/56v9nnzd.

As a member of Gen Z, you have the benefit of a long, long time to build up your efforts to save for a full and meaningful retirement. I encourage you to get on track if you are not fully engaged. Your financial future is closer than you think.

DISTRIBUTED BY ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

There are many research tools available to help you pick stocks for your portfolio.

But don’t put those research tools away after you’ve made your purchases. The act of buying a stock does not put an end to research, and it begins a process of careful monitoring to determine whether you should continue to own the stock.

When should you sell a stock? That depends on what you are trying to achieve. An investor’s goal is to accumulate money for a specific need, such as retirement. A trader’s goal is to make as much money as possible in as little time as possible.

If you are trying to trade for a profit, then your selling rules will focus on near-term data, such as price and volume.

A successful trader will sell out before losses mount, while letting his profits run. He may set a stop loss at 10% below his purchase price. If the stock has a run-up, he may sell it after he achieves a certain profit. Or he may hold on to the stock until it starts a retreat from a high.

Most people are not traders, however, nor should they be. Someone who invests for retirement has a longer horizon than a trader, and a different motive for owning stocks. The purpose of the rule set remains the same: to allow you to profit from the stock while protecting you against losses. However, the methodology is different.

Instead of focusing on intra-day changes in prices, investors with a longer horizon will sell when the stock fails to meet selection criteria.

Let’s say you chose a stock because it was a leader in its industry, with solid earnings growth and low debt. After a few years, you see that the company begins to lose its leadership position to a rival and significantly increases its debt load. No longer meeting the criteria you used to buy the stock, you sell it, irrespective of whether you’ve made a profit.

Here’s another example. If you are using Value Line for stock selection, you might be buying stocks that are ranked 1 or 2 for safety. You would sell when the stock falls in rank to a 3 or below.

What about taxes? Taxes should not get in the way of your selling discipline. Taxes are a fact of life. If a stock needs to be sold, sell it.

Individuals need to avoid some bad habits in order to improve their results.

First, don’t sell in reaction to the news.

Second, don’t sell your winning stocks too soon.

Third, don’t hold on to your losers with the idea that you’ll sell them after they turn a profit.

Fourth, don’t overestimate your knowledge or skills. Sell the stocks that were mistakes to make room for better choices.

Fifth, sell stocks that you shouldn’t own because they are too risky considering your financial situation.

Sixth, recognize that you are not investing to win a contest. Outperformance is not the goal.

Seventh, don’t trade too much. Based on studies of individual investors, those who trade the most earn the lowest returns.

Eighth, don’t act impetuously. Fish are caught because they snap at the bait. There will be plenty of opportunities to make a profit, all in due time and after careful consideration.

Finally, develop your own set of selling rules and follow them. If you don’t, you’ll find yourself using the “cross your fingers” method, hoping your losers will recover and that you’ll catch the next boom before riding it all the way down.

Good investing is a result of planning, careful stock selection and knowing when to sell. Losing portfolios are made up of random activity in reaction to a sales idea or something you see on the news.

DISTRIBUTED BY ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

If you find you need to contact your brokerage firm's customer support department, but you can't remember the phone number, you might go online to a search engine to find the contact information -- and you might get caught up in a scam as a result.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, which oversees the U.S. broker-dealer industry, has found that scammers are impersonating some FINRA member firms' support centers by using "sponsored search result ads" (tinyurl.com/mwmexxfu). You may recognize these ads: They frequently appear as the first search results when using a web browser or search engine.

When someone clicks on the scam ad, "instead of being directed to the firm's page, they're taken to a fraudulent website controlled by bad actors," FINRA reported, adding that scammers "then attempt to steal funds or personal information from their targets."

How does the ad scam work?

Sponsored ads are created that mimic a firm's legitimate information, FINRA said. The ads often use a firm's logo -- or an image that is extremely similar to the logo. The ad might have the firm's URL or web address -- but clicking on the link will actually lead you to a different destination.

Because the fake ad might appear to be a natural result of a legitimate search (since sponsored ads often appear near regular search results), it can be difficult to spot.

If you end up at the fraudulent website, the scammers "might attempt to gain access to your computer by prompting you to download remote login software or malware," according to the Investor Insight.

If they are successful, the scammers "can retrieve personal information and login credentials, transfer funds and install malware for future attacks -- potentially all without you realizing what has occurred."

As FINRA points out, the ad can include a fraudulent phone number, and if you call that number, you can still become a victim of fraud even if you never visit the fake website.

FINRA notes that this scam is closely related to tech support scams, a particular plague for those over the age of 60. The FBI's 2023 Internet Crime Report indicated that tech and customer support fraud, along with government impersonation, involved losses totaling more than $1.3 billion, with more than $770 million of that total related to those over age 60 (tinyurl.com/45k9v597).

FINRA offers a number of suggestions to avoid such a scam, including:

-- Contact the firm's support center directly from the firm's website or mobile application, rather than using a search engine. If you need to call the firm, use the number on your account statement.

-- If you should use a search engine, make sure you "differentiate between ads and legitimate search results." Ads often appear with the word "sponsored" or "ad" in the copy above them, or they might have background shading or appear in a box.

-- Check for typos or incorrect characters in headlines or URLs. If you click on a URL, make sure it matches the website address that is displayed.

-- If at any time during a support session you feel uncomfortable or suspect a scam, "end the session immediately by closing your browser and related programs, disconnecting your internet, or hanging up the call."

What should you do if you are drawn into a support center scam?

Act right away. Change your passwords immediately and report the incident to your brokerage firm. Some firms will recommend that your accounts be closed and new accounts opened in their place. Be sure to carefully review your accounts for unauthorized transfers, withdrawals, charges or unauthorized activity.

Run an antivirus scan on your computer. If the scam involves a fraudulent ad, report it to the relevant search engine company.

Report the scam to FINRA (tinyurl.com/33u3am95), the SEC (tinyurl.com/mxzt4mvw) and the FBI (tinyurl.com/3ta7mseb).

Regular readers know that I'm a fan of FINRA as a solid, unbiased resource of investor education. Take a little time to look at FINRA's other resources, such as how to identify imposter investment scams (tinyurl.com/2vubj8jz) and how to protect your money (tinyurl.com/bdf9jd3t).

And, as always, let me know what's on your mind (readers@juliejason.com). What questions do you have that we can address together in this column?

DISTRIBUTED BY ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION