JUNE 2004

Who Would Have Thought.......

Who would have thought.......

Mary Lyn Fledderman

V. P. of Development and Membership of the National Investors Association Advisory Board

Director OKI Chapter for ten years.

Who would have thought when they were only 25 years of age to start investing small sums of money in quality companies on a regular basis for long-term profits? The average age of NAIC investors is 55. Can you imagine 30 years ago in 1974 investing $1000 in Coca Cola or a home town favorite company like P&G, or Home Depot when it first became public or Microsoft when it first showed earnings. And because you were wise and dedicated, you continued investing at least $1000 a year building a very nice portfolio. Are you having dreams of dollar signs dancing in your head? Your $30,000 would make you a very wealthy person today. Oh, let's not forget that we think we are in a down and unexciting market right now.

But what are we going to do with what we have learned and continue to learn going forward. I hope two things. 1. To keep investing the NAIC way doing thorough stock studies and investing in solid companies for fair growth and 2. To share what we have learned. We all know 20-30-35 year old people in our family, churches, neighborhoods and other groups who need to start learning to invest now. Many will not have company pension plans due to changes in corporations' pay structures and there is the fact that people move more frequently in their careers. Too many are spending money and credit debt on the fastest cars, the biggest houses and other expensive toys without giving much thought to using employer 401K plans or doing any kind of saving or investing for the future. And the future is now.

What can you do? There are several things you can do.

Invite someone you know to visit and perhaps join your investment club.

Give the gift of a membership to NAIC.

Schedule and host a "Better Investing" program to be presented by an OKI Tri-State Chapter Director for your library, social group, church, or community organization.

Demonstrate the NAIC web site to your young friends, children and grandchildren.

Give stock as gifts.

Invite someone to join you at our Investors Fair or other classes.

You believe in investing. You've benefited from it. Now what will you do? The OKI -Tri-State Chapter Directors offer all kinds of support services and programs that can help you spread the knowledge and the potential wealth with the people you care the most about.

I challenge you to share the wealth of knowledge with the next generation!