<FOOLISH FOUR PORTFOLIO>
By
WOODSTOCK, NY (September 7, 1999) -- The rain tauntingly grays the Northeastern skies, mercilessly chilling the air and dampening jolly memories of those lazy, hazy, crazy days of another passing summer.
Across the country, parents are tearfully bidding their beloved darlings adieu and packing them off to another year of school, entrusting them to strangers with teaching degrees, and hoping (to paraphrase Mark Twain) that their schooling won't interfere with their education.
But what of the parents? They, too, must continually educate themselves in order to sustain personal evolution. Going back to school is not restricted to the young; it's a joy, a privilege, and a right that all generations deserve to enjoy.
After all, despite the distasteful arrogance of that know-it-all guy next door, no one knows everything. And the most humble among us revel at the opportunity to broaden our horizons and open our minds to knowledge that may have avoided our personal milieu thus far.
Personal finance is a timely and necessary topic to begin studying right now. Few have had the good fortune of being educated on these issues via traditional schooling; now this schooling is literally at our fingertips, once we know where to find it.
Fools, don your jester caps, slide into your oversized jeans, grab enough paper to make spit balls, and head on over to our Fool's School to begin mastering a new area of personal finance that has heretofore eluded you.
If you're comfortable with the Foolish Four approach and ready to throw caution to the wind and tackle investing in individual stocks, proceed to the next grade -- Steps 7-13 of our Thirteen Steps to Investing Foolishly. Every step of the way, we friendly Fools will guide you along this more challenging and time-consuming path via our message boards. The best place for answers to your Foolish questions is on our Ask a Foolish Question message board, where Fooldom's finest and most devoted helpers will respond lovingly to all your queries.
If you're ready to take a walk on the wild side and learn the roaring mysteries to the underbelly of the business beast, begin your back-to-school course with our lessons in valuation. There you'll journey through the balance sheet, learn about PEG, YPEG, ROE, ROIC, and after your mind is rolling with new ideas, learn the true meaning of TGIF (Thank Goodness I'm a Fool!).
Even as you master the above topics, there's a whole world of essential information about educating your children about personal finance and preparing them (and you) for their future.
Don't wait. According to an article in U.S. News, the typical first child in a middle-income family will require a 22-year investment of just over $459,000 to raise and educate. That's a lot of moolah!
In order to help meet these monstrous financial requirements, we've prepared our very own Back to School Special. Begin learning about Investing for Your Kids. This feature covers IRAs, ownership issues, and stock selection as well as in-home education. There's unparalleled value in home schooling, even for those on a traditional educational path.
Other areas covered in the back-to-school feature are paying for college, investing for teens, and links to areas relevant to college-aged Fools.
If my musings have stimulated a dormant desire to have children, be sure to read our special tax feature on Adoption Tax Benefits, written with paternal love by our in-house taxmeister, Roy Lewis.
Begin your studies, then come on over to my house for a warm lunch of vegetable soup and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to sustain you on your journey. After all, the best weapon to combat all the potential financial pitfalls in your path is knowledge. And for the cost of knowledge at the Fool, you can't afford NOT to learn.