Thursday, March 05, 1998

The Benefit of Starting Over Early
By Heather Pregerson ([email protected])

When I talk to older, "wiser," more experienced investors about getting started with investments, they want to know what sort of situation I am in. Well, I am 23 years old, married, I have no debt, my husband is an E.R. resident at County Hospital, and we have approximately three years of our yearly income saved in a money market account. "Wow!" they say, "I wish I was in that position when I was your age." They then proceed to tell me how I don't know what I am doing and am going to lose it all. That might have been true a year ago, but here comes the twist of fate.

As a graduation gift, some Fool gave my husband The Motley Fool Investment Guide. Didn't she know that residents don't have time to read anything other than medicine, not even the daily mail? Needless to say the book collected dust for about three months until one day, I thought "Let's see how boring investment books really are." I then proceeded to read the book for six hours and finished it in a week. This from a woman who didn't know the difference between a dividend and a discount broker.

It has also inspired me to gain Internet access and I've been reading the Motley Fool on-line daily for the last few months. I also use a discount brokerage that I can access on-line, and have just made my first jump into the Foolish Four, and have established a Roth IRA for both my husband and myself. I know I have a lot to learn, and I will have little snags along the way, but at least our money is no longer in an expensive annuity that is untouchable for the next thirty years (my husband's first and last big investment mistake, carried out by our local eager investment advisor).

The best part is the more I learn, the more I want to learn. I never thought I would enjoy getting our financial life together. I never thought that I was educated enough to know the first thing about the stock market or how to make reasonable decisions about our savings. To the Fool who got me inspired: Thank you!

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