Newspaper Page Text
G gi
Presenting an
Investment
primer for
new investors
he United States economy
is as good as it gets, despite
the recent roller coaster ride
in the stock market. Unem
ployment is down and inflation
barely exists.
Yet, consumers are anxious about
their personal finances. Genera
tion Xers worry that Social Secu
rity will be bankrupt before their
time comes to collect. Babyboomers
are afraid that they will be financ
ing their children’s education just
as they should be increasing their
retirement savings. Senior citi
zens fearthat they will outlive their
investments.
And there is good reason for con
cern. Despite theboomingeconomy
personal bankruptcies are at an all
time high. More than a million
people so mismanaged their fi
nances last year that they were
forced to file for bankruptcy pro
tection from their creditors.
Many consumers want to handle
their money wisely, but lack the
financial literacy to carry out their
good intentions. Studieshavefound
that while 65 percent of the popu
lation were confident about their
ability to purchase an automobile,
only 34 percent felt they could se
lect a mutual fund that was right
for them.
While newspapers, magazines,
books and the Internet are all use
ful sources of financial informa
tion, the advice can be contradic
tory. To help you sort through this
welter of information, here are
some important do’sand don’tsthat
will help you to meet your personal
financial goals, whether sending a
child to college or realizing the
dream of early retirement.
The guide was prepared
by the Marketing
Depariment of
Avugusta Focus
Finally; the doors open
at financal instittutions
.il"‘l = ;:}’ « ¥
: PSS | "]
/ - 3
§ p / : ) 4
18 ; ¥
-, 4 4
." by e § e 4
:/ ; Ky : ;
‘ ;‘ 4 ; ;
b e 5
" i, > }
~ g 4
,1 £
/ -4 ; A 8 B
\‘ A : i
; :
— § )
- m y N
= % L
: \ ,14_‘_'; : ' i
. Ml > : £ ;
& o, ;
R " b, > L TP . .
Y 3 . I t’?‘_‘ ;} S" 2 iy '
L B 8 B et - Ml e Yigy .
-~ > :?‘-, e BTN TR :
A - 8 ,_'...x, B Vo 5 ;: BLS ':‘ _fiv, -
o A 2 “mi ey 47 in i
- AR i sl £ omig v
. " T . g > - > .
i T ' > . o J:i”'&)- %
- District of NewsXrk C <
i 2 : - (4 i
i : 'ONereD,ooo stock brokers working daily. <2
R, . ’ S - FLErgy
“#= - that 90,000 only 600 aré African American! . -
.s‘, e . gy o * 5 rod
\_;‘ o '; 6 y - g o 0 M ¥ " 4 .'.
- gansre is a strong need for ckange and, 4
e R v, . ¢ iy b 4 s .7
o ' u." Bus h e b ; 2 s
F Tunately a change Is st ‘to come. 5
§ B s i The . ot &
4 7 o el A N Bot b B A e
M NL& 3 e e B s .‘%fi-";f A
he biggest flaw in African-
American communities is the
lack of capital access and the
nonappearance of fiscal invest
ment. We cannot truly obtain genuine
American freedom without economic
equity. The final frontier for African
Americans is entrepreneurship and
robust capitalism. This cannot be re
alized without significant changes be
ingmadein the state of diversity within
the Financial Services Industry. For
example, the Wall Street District of
New York City has over 90,000 stock
brokers working daily. Of that 90,000
only 600 are Black! There is a strong
need for change and, fortunately a
change is starting to come.
Back in 1996, on the day following
Thanksgiving, I attended a street pro
test held on Wall Street (that ceremo
nial one block of financial might home
to the New York Stock Exchange). The
participants weremainly Black St. Louis
contractors protesting the acquisition
of Boatman’s Bank by Nations Bank.
Nations, in its typical way, would not
By Harry Alford,
President, National Black
Chamber of Commerce
commit to any standards or milestones
benefiting small and Black owned busi
nesses in the Missouri/Kansas market
ing area. We actually shut Wall Street
down in front of 2,000 New York police
officers. People had to enter and exit
the stock exchange via the alley en
trance.
This caught the financial community
by surprise and brought focus on a sig
nificant problem. Change came almost
immediately. Rev. Jesse Jackson soon
announced his “Wall Street Project” by
borrowing an office in the district and
starting a scrutiny process on financial
houses. The NAACP soon began an
“Economic Reciprocity” initiative which
will evaluateindustrybyindustry. First,
the hotel industry and, lately, the tele
communications industry. What those
contractors from St. Louis did was, at
long last, put Wall Street under the
microscope.
A few weeks ago, the NBCC, the
Greenlining Institute and about adozen
other minority business organizations
held a series of productive meetings
with the financial “gurus” of this na
tion. What we found was an unanimous
attitude of commitment todiversity and
to begin “leveling the field” in the Fi
best way to sum up the meeting is to
provide quotes or summations from the
“gurus” we visited. !
Federal Deposit Insurance Cor
poration (FDIC). Acting chairman
Andrew C. Hove Jr.. We need to im
prove diversity at the Board of Direc
tors level and within top management
of our banks. Somehow we need to get
the data and evaluate. Also, we need to
improve our outreach, perhaps through
the minority owned media.
Office of Thrift Supervision. Di
rector Ellen Seidman: Thrift charters
are to serve a community purpose, for
the entire community. lam very inter
ested in improving what thrifts are do
ing with minority businesses in terms
of procurement.
Federal Reserve Board. Governor
Gramlich: Investment houses should
start following the CRA (Community
Reinvestment Act) principles. We
should also monitor minority business
activity at the vendor or procurement
level. Governor Meyer: Politics should
handle the social issues. Any business
improvement should be based on “safety
and soundness.” Diversity should be
based on what it adds to safety and
soundness. Chairman Alan Greenspan:
There should be more Congressional
direction in the law as. The mindset of
our lending institutions should be “A
good loan is a good loan, regardless of
geography.” Redlining cannot be al
lowed to exist.
Fannie Mae. Chairman James A.
Johnson: Fannie Mae is very commit
ted to “credit experimentation” to im
prove the activity of minority home buy
ers. To date, Fannie Mae has invested
$7 billion into this. We are actively
utilizing minority banks to park our
deposits.
Security and Exchange Commis
sion (SEC). Chairman Arthur Levitt:
“I will personally visit the brokerage
houses around the nation and promote
diversity in the power point areas such
as branch managers, underwriters, ex
ecutive officers. These meetings will be
toe to toe and very frank. Hopefully, I
will make a difference. Also, we will
strive to improve minority involvement
at the Board Seat level, HBCU college
initiatives and general outreach. lam
very serious.”
Office of the Comptroller of Cur
rency. Comptroller Eugene A. Ludwig:
Outreach and the recognized need for
improving diversity have never been
greater. You advocates should reach
high on the “tree.” The right people are
now listening.
Department of the Treasury. Sec
retary Robert E. Rubin: We areopening
the doors to opportunity by way of low
cost loan programs, welfare to work
initiatives and a genuine outreach into
for these programs hasgreatly increased
significantly improve.
3