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Senior News April, 2004 Vol. 25. No. 4
Published by the Humboldt Senior Resource Center in Eureka, California. HSRC is a non-profit community-based organization offering services for senior citizens, multi-generational families and caregivers.
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Humboldt Senior Resource Center Back issues Table of Contents
 Humboldt Taxpayers circulate petition for ballot
Plus in this issue catch more news, opinions, features, book reviews, and event calendars.
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Investment clubs by Barbara Ogden The McKinleyville Senior Center has had two different investment clubs. The purpose of investment clubs is not to make a lot of money but to learn how to invest money and how the market works. Our first club, the Thanksgiving Club, started in 1997 with 16 members. We fashioned it after the Beardstown ladies and affiliated with the NAIC (National Association of Investment Clubs.) We met once a month for two hours and each of us contributed $25 a month toward stock purchases. Among the 16 of us were those familiar with the stock exchange and the stock purchase process who had their own personal portfolios. Some knew nothing about stocks at all. The market was good for the first few years, and we bought a wide variety of stocks on both the exchanges including techs, airlines and drug companies. But alas, in 2002 our club disbanded and cashed out. Three of our members had passed away. Several were bored, saying they didn't contribute anything and weren't getting anything out of the club - and the market was not in good shape. All were reasons to take a loss on some of our stocks and quit. In the meantime, in 2001, our Upper Crust Club came into existence. It began with 14 members, and members contribute $50 each a month. They meet once a month and are still in existence, but down to 10 members and looking for new ones. When the market was really bad, the group did not meet for six months. It also bought a variety of stocks including airlines, Disney and Johnson & Johnson. Investment clubs are fun and can be monetarily rewarding and interesting. They are also a great learning tool for folks to understand the stock market and how it works. Both clubs used brokers who were excellent sources of information and direction. Both our clubs had some members who did all the research and rating of stocks and those who just show up at meetings and often get bored. But not all folks have access to a computer and the Internet or to other ways of researching stocks. If you would like to join our second club, you would be welcome. In the Thanksgiving Club, you had to buy in with an amount equal to what the other members already had contributed. But in the Upper Crust Club, $50 buys you in. You won't have the investment of the other members, but will start your own investment. If you might be interested, call me at the McKinleyville Senior Center at 707-839-0191 and I will get you in touch with a member. Someone asked if I would join another investment club. In a minute. I personally learned a lot about the stock market and felt it was time well spent. Barbara Ogden is director of the McKinleyville Senior Center. |
Senior News