Young professionals should focus on saving for retirement today, advises this Houston expert

Guest Column

It's National Retirement Security Week — and to celebrate, you need to start thinking about saving. Getty Images

National Retirement Security Week is upon us. In 2006, the United States Senate passed a resolution establishing the third week of October as a time to raise awareness about the importance of retirement savings and to encourage Americans to contribute to their retirement plans. The sponsors of the resolution hoped Americans would think about their retirement goals and assess their progress.

The Senate had good advice. Consider this: less than half of Americans have calculated how much money they will need to have in retirement. Additionally, the average person will spend a whopping 20 years in retirement. This data means you need to be proactive in your retirement planning, especially if you plan to retire early. Experts project that the average American will need 70 – 90 percent of their pre-retirement income to continue to live in their current standard of living. Even with well-funded savings, retirees will face challenges such as high costs of healthcare and the future of Medicare and Social Security.

For young investors

Research has shown that younger Americans, approximately ages 18 to 35, say the ideal time to retire is 60 years old. However, young professionals need to remember that the full retirement age for social security benefits is 67 years of age. Therefore, saving early in their career is key to attaining a livable retirement income.

Additionally, many young Americans are simply not saving for retirement at all. Data has demonstrated that two-thirds of Millennials have nothing saved. A rule of thumb is to continually save 10 to 15 percent of your income throughout your career for retirement. If you would like to retire at 60 years of age, you should be saving 20 percent or more.

First step: Start saving

Therefore, your first step should be starting to save today, and it should be a priority. By beginning to save as soon as possible, you benefit from the power of compound interest. Each year's investment gains build on the next year's gains. Ideally, you should begin saving for retirement in your early twenties at the beginning of your career. Saving early can reap big rewards later. However, if you are further along in your career and have not been saving, start now.

Many employers offer 401(k) plans, allowing employees to save for retirement before taxes are taken out of their paycheck. If your company offers a 401(k) plan, ensure you are enrolled and contributing at least enough to receive the maximum matching contribution. In 2019, the IRS allows you to contribute up to $19,000, and for those 50 and over, you may contribute $25,000. While 401(k)s have many benefits, there are some restrictions. For example, the plan may require you to leave the money in for a minimum amount of time before you are entitled to your employer's matching contributions. To ensure you understand your employer's plan, consult the plan administrator.

Not all employers offer retirement plans. If that is your case, or you are self-employed, look into an IRA. These accounts are another smart way to save for retirement. IRAs are controlled by you, not your employer. You can choose either a Roth IRA or a Traditional IRA. The difference between the two varies on issues such as age restrictions, income limits, and tax breaks. For an IRA in 2019, you may contribute $6,000 per person, or $7,000 for those 50 and over. Similar to 401(k)s, IRAs can be set up by automatic deduction if you so choose.

No matter your industry or the season of your life, take the time this National Retirement Security Week to educate yourself on your saving options, focus on your retirement goals, and begin the action steps necessary to be able to retire securely.

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Marcellus Davis is a financial adviser with the Wealth Management Division of Morgan Stanley in Houston.

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Houston humanoid robotics startup inks new deal to deploy its rugged robots

big deal

Houston-based Persona AI announced the expansion of its operations at the Ion and a major milestone in deploying its humanoid robots.

The company will establish a state-of-the-art development center in the prominent corner suite on the first floor of the Ion, and is slated to begin expansion in June.

“We chose the Ion because it’s more than just a building — it’s a thriving innovation ecosystem,” CEO Nicolaus Radford said in a news release. “This is where Houston’s tech future is being built. It’s a convergence point for the people, energy, and ideas that power our mission to redefine human-machine collaboration. For an industrial, AI-driven robotics company, there’s no better place to scale than in the heart of Houston.”

Persona AI’s new development center will be located in the suite utilized by the Ion Prototyping Lab, managed by TXRX Labs. The IPL will transition its operations to the expanded TXRX facility in the East End Maker Hub, which will allow the lab to grow its team and meet increased demand.

At the start of the year, Persona AI closed $25 million in pre-seed funding. Earlier this month, the company announced a memorandum of understanding with HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, HD Hyundai Robotic, and Korean manufacturing firm Vazil Company to create and deploy humanoid robots for complex welding tasks in shipyards.

The project will deliver prototype humanoids by the end of 2026, with field testing and full commercial deployment scheduled to begin in 2027.

"As heavy industry faces growing labor constraints—especially in high-risk trades like welding—the need for rugged, autonomous humanoid robots is more urgent than ever,” Radford added in a separate statement. “This partnership with HD Hyundai and Vazil is more than symbolic—deploying to the shipyard is one of the largest real-world proving grounds for Persona's tough, humanoid robots.”

Houston climatech co. to lead one of world's largest carbon capture projects

Big Deal

Houston-based CO2 utilization company HYCO1 has signed a memorandum of understanding with Malaysia LNG Sdn. Bhd., a subsidiary of Petronas, for a carbon capture project in Malaysia, which includes potential utilization and conversion of 1 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.

The project will be located in Bintulu in Sarawak, Malaysia, where Malaysia LNG is based, according to a news release. Malaysia LNG will supply HYCO1 with an initial 1 million tons per year of raw CO2 for 20 years starting no later than 2030. The CCU plant is expected to be completed by 2029.

"This is very exciting for all stakeholders, including HYCO1, MLNG, and Petronas, and will benefit all Malaysians," HYCO1 CEO Gregory Carr said in the release. "We approached Petronas and MLNG in the hopes of helping them solve their decarbonization needs, and we feel honored to collaborate with MLNG to meet their Net Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050.”

The project will convert CO2 into industrial-grade syngas (a versatile mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen) using HYCO1’s proprietary CUBE Technology. According to the company, its CUBE technology converts nearly 100 percent of CO2 feed at commercial scale.

“Our revolutionary process and catalyst are game changers in decarbonization because not only do we prevent CO2 from being emitted into the atmosphere, but we transform it into highly valuable and usable downstream products,” Carr added in the release.

As part of the MoU, the companies will conduct a feasibility study evaluating design alternatives to produce low-carbon syngas.

The companies say the project is expected to “become one of the largest CO2 utilization projects in history.”

HYCO1 also recently announced that it is providing syngas technology to UBE Corp.'s new EV electrolyte plant in New Orleans. Read more here.

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This story originally appeared on our sister site, EnergyCapitalHTX.com.

Texas tops ranking of best states for investors in new report

by the numbers

Texas ranks third on a new list of the best states for investors and startups.

Investment platform BrokerChooser weighed five factors to come up with its ranking:

  • 2024 Google search volume for terms related to investing
  • Number of investors
  • Number of businesses receiving investments in 2024
  • Total amount of capital invested in businesses in 2024
  • Percentage change in amount of investment from 2019 to 2024

Based on those figures, provided mostly by Crunchbase, Texas sits at No. 3 on the list, behind No. 1 California and No. 2 New York.

Especially noteworthy for Texas is its investment total for 2024: more than $164.5 billion. From 2019 to 2024, the state saw a 440 percent jump in business investments, according to BrokerChooser. The same percentages are 204 percent for California and 396 percent for New York.

“There is definitely development and diversification in the American investment landscape, with impressive growth in areas that used to fly under the radar,” says Adam Nasli, head analyst at BrokerChooser.

According to Crunchbase, funding for Texas startups is off to a strong start in 2025. In the first three months of this year, venture capital investors poured nearly $2.9 billion into Lone Star State companies, Crunchbase data shows. Crunchbase attributes that healthy dollar amount to “enthusiasm around cybersecurity, defense tech, robotics, and de-extincting mammoths.”

During the first quarter of this year, roughly two-thirds of VC funding in Texas went to just five companies, says Crunchbase. Those companies are Austin-based Apptronik, Austin-based Colossal Biosciences, Dallas-based Island, Austin-based NinjaOne, and Austin-based Saronic.

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