About investing - Column

Black Enterprise, April, 1992 by Earl G. Graves

The subject of investments, always an intimidating one to most people, is a source of even more anxiety in these threatening economic times. Now, more than ever, information on personal finance and investing is at a premium--and this issue of BLACK ENTERPRISE, featuring our 1992 Investment Special Section, delivers it. We offer insights on investing from top money managers and investment experts, including our cover subject, Ariel Capital Management CEO John Rogers. Also featured is our ranking of the year's best-performing mutual funds.

Questions about money--where to get it, how to keep it, and what if it suddenly stops coming in--haunt our every decision, from where to save and invest to meet future wants and needs and defend against financial disaster, to whether to postpone that vacation or new car purchase. These questions-- and the anxiety they reflect--represent a fundamental difference in what smart saving and savvy investing mean today, as compared to what they meant as recently as a year ago.

It seems like only yesterday that conventional personal finance information primarily emphasized debt management, not disciplined saving, as a personal fiscal posture. Housing values were booming and financial security seemed only a few CDs and a couple of money-market funds away. Today, many of us are biting the bullet and scrambling to build a savings cushion against a recession defined by white-collar unemployment. And those of us prescient enough to have a significant savings and investment portfolio are no longer sure what to do with it. Clearly, shrinking yields on money markets and CDs indicate that growth, not just safety, should be the new investment priority. Stocks are the way to achieve that growth; in fact, our investment analysts project that equities will continue to deliver a greater return on investment. Other priorities include reducing costly credit card debt, increasing savings and diversifing your portfolio in counterbalance to the unpredictability of the economy.

Our Investment Special package amply underscores the authoritative personal finance advice you've come to expect from BE--and for which you've paid hard-earned money. Financial companies, are sources of free-but no less valuable--information that can help you learn of more investment options so you can make the most profitable choices for you. Several of these companies, including Charles Schwab & Co., T. Rowe Price, 20th Century Investors and the Calvert Group, which have purchased advertising in this issue, are eager to tap the investment dollars represented by the black consumer market. I invite you to call these companies as you work to define a personal money management solution to the investment challenges ahead.