Stock 'Portfolio Prodigy' From Fort Lee Wins Student Essay Competition

FORT LEE, NJ — An 11-year-old stock "portfolio prodigy" from Fort Lee has developed a long-term investment strategy, and his vision of how to invest for the future led him to win first place in New Jersey in the elementary school division of a national writing competition, a news release said.

In the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association Foundation's Spring 2022 InvestWrite competition, Kevin Lee, a fifth grader at Lewis F. Cole Intermediate School, also gained national recognition with his financial plan, which beat out thousands of entries across the country.

The national competition is the "culminating activity" for the Stock Market Game, a financial education program that challenges students to manage a hypothetical $100,000 online portfolio of listed stocks, mutual funds, bonds and cash over a 14-week period.

“The SIFMA Foundation ensures young people of all backgrounds are better prepared for their financial lives,” Melanie Mortimer, President of the SIFMA Foundation said in the news release. “We congratulate Kevin on this remarkable achievement and commend his teacher and school for their commitment to financial education.”

InvestWrite asked students to write essays on what they learned about investing that they did not know before participating in the simulation, and to explain how that could help their own future and help others. Another question asked was if the student was investing $100,000 over 30 years, what stocks, mutual funds and bonds would they choose and why.

"The Stock Market Game has been a positive learning experience, and I have genuinely enjoyed it," Lee wrote in his winning essay. "Understanding how the SMG works will help me to invest my money later on in life."