The Daily Dow
Friday, June 6, 1997
by Robert Sheard (TMF Sheard)

LEXINGTON, KY. (June 6, 1997) -- It's Friday. The Dow soared to a new record high. So let's party. And what better way to party than with a visit from our old party animal himself -- the compounding clown.

If you understand nothing else about the stock market, keep these two things in mind: add money to it regularly and let time work for you. There's no secret; that's what it takes to retire well (unless you inherit a boatload of cash).

Even if you start late in the game, you can still build a healthy retirement cushion if you "just do it." Put $2000 a year into an IRA. Even if you're 50 years old and have only 20 years before retirement at age 70, you can generate a retirement fund of almost $350,000 if you average 18% a year (roughly the return of the high-yield 10 over the last few decades). That's only an investment of $167 a month, about $5.50 a day. Most people pay two or three times that much each month for their car payments.

If you're 40 years old, and have 30 years to save, so much the better. You can turn that $2000 a year into $1.9 million at 18% a year. If you're 30 and can save for 40 years, you'll have $9.8 million. And if you're only 20 and save just $2000 a year for the next 50 years (at 18% a year), you can retire at age 70 with a whopping $51.5 million.

If those kind of numbers don't make you drool, you're either already in Bill Gates's will or you're suspicious of my math skills. But that's really all it takes: modest savings, decent investment strategy, and time. And if you can make more than 18% a year or save more than $2000 a year, well... Go Clownie! Go Clownie! Go Clownie! (Dance instructors around the globe are thankful this isn't a multimedia presentation.) Fool on!

(c) Copyright 1997, The Motley Fool. All rights reserved. This material is for personal use only. Republication and redissemination, including posting to news groups, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of The Motley Fool. ________________________________

Stock  Change   Last
--------------------
T    ---       35.50
GM   ---       56.88
CHV  +   3/8   72.25
MMM  +1  1/2   92.50

               Day   Month    Year
        FOOL-4   +0.48%  -0.53%  -0.10%
        DJIA     +1.79%   1.43%  15.31%
        S&P 500  +1.73%   1.15%  15.83%
        NASDAQ   +1.06%   0.32%   8.82%

    Rec'd   #  Security     In At       Now    Change
   1/2/97  120 3M            83.00     92.50    11.45%
   1/2/97  153 Chevron       65.00     72.25    11.15%
   1/2/97  179 Gen. Motor    55.75     56.88     2.02%
   1/2/97  479 AT&T          41.75     35.50   -14.97%


    Rec'd   #  Security     In At     Value    Change
   1/2/97  120 3M          9960.00  11100.00  $1140.00
   1/2/97  153 Chevron     9945.00  11054.25  $1109.25
   1/2/97  179 Gen. Motor  9979.25  10180.63   $201.38
   1/2/97  479 AT&T       19998.25  17004.50 -$2993.75


                             CASH    $609.53
                            TOTAL  $49948.91