Professor Samantha Prince quoted in MarketWatch article on market volatility in the U.S.

CARLISLE, PA—Professor Samantha Prince was recently quoted in a MarketWatch article titled “Retirement Investors Should Beware of Our Volatile ‘Marie Antoinette’ Market,” authored by award-winning financial writer Brett Arends.

The article explains the fluctuating financial market’s impact on the everyday American citizen. It refers to the current United States financial market as a “Marie Antoinette” market, describing a major disconnect between strong stock market performance and the economic realities faced by most individuals. Challenging claims by influential political figures, including Marjorie Taylor Greene and Scott Bessent, that people should not panic over recent market fluctuations, the article cites Prince’s piece “Nest Eggs and Lifelines: The Overlooked Strain of Economic Volatility on 401(k) Participants,” in which she argues that such advice is easy to give when you are wealthy.

Unlike multi-millionaires, the average American must remain mindful of market changes, as these shifts can directly impact their financial situation. In her “Nest Eggs” article, Prince highlights this point while exploring how market volatility generally works against ordinary stock market investors, rather than in their favor. Citing Prince, the MarketWatch article asserts that for many Americans, a 401(k) is not just an investment but also a tool for providing financial stability. Recent market changes, therefore, are particularly concerning, even if wealthy individuals tend to view them differently.

Professor Samantha Prince is an associate professor of law. She has a Master of Laws in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center and was a partner in a regional law firm where she handled transactional matters that ranged from an initial public offering to regular representation of a publicly traded company. A significant part of her practice was in employee benefits, including retirement plan design and operation. Her expertise from practice has fueled her research, enabling her to become an expert on 401(k) vesting schedules, employee benefits transparency, and gig work. In practice, most of her clients were small- to medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurs, including start-ups. Professor Prince brought her practice knowledge to the Law School and established the Penn State Dickinson Law entrepreneurship program. She is an advisor for the Entrepreneurship Law Certificate that is available to students and is the founder and moderator of the Inside Entrepreneurship Law blog.