2020 Women – January 2020
“Women will rule the world when they start investing”
-Teri, January 2020
What an awesome number. The year 2020 is like a once in a lifetime number. And I do love numbers. Not math, just numbers.
We were not around for the 1010’s and we won’t be here for the 3030’s so we have to take full advantage of the “2020’s”.
Every month , there will be one day that is “20-2020”.
I’m especially excited about February 20th : 2-20-2020.
One of my goals for 2020 is to convince 2,020 women to open a brokerage account and buy five shares of a $20.00 stock.
My second goal is to make things easy.
My wonderful developer/designer/marketing guru Kate and I had a conversation about making things easy. Someone asked her “what does easy look like?” Hmmmm. That is a good question.
I admit when I am writing a newsletter, now renamed the Monthly Insight, or an investment article, I sink into the weeds until I come up for air.
I don’t make it easy for myself. Mostly I am curious and ask myself question after question after question to make sure I am delivering valuable content to you.
But with your help in 2020 I want to achieve the following. Make it easy for 2,020 women to start investing.
Think about all the women in your life. Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, Aunts and Cousins. Friends, Friends of Friends, Schoolmates and Co- Workers. Women you meet at social events and gatherings.
ALL of them will benefit if they take one easy step and start investing.
It doesn’t matter what stock you choose or what mutual fund or exchange traded fund you invest in. The purpose is to take a step: open a brokerage account. Take a second step: buy a stock. Learning to invest is about the process of investing.
It is learning by doing, something many “investors” never actually do.
Who cares if the first stock you buy doesn’t work out? Someday you will be able to say, “I remember the first stock I bought.”
How many women can say that ? It is a powerful statement. You bought the stock. You decided. Someone else did not do it for you.
I know I have said this before, and I will continue to say it. There are no barriers to entry. There is no one who can stop you from having your own account and making your own decisions.
That may seem obvious to some of you but what I have discovered is that opening a brokerage account is the biggest hurdle to starting.
Maybe at some point it will make sense for you to speak with an advisor . If you have started investing on your own, the conversation with an advisor is going to make sense because you have experience.
You will know how investing works. You will know what the process is because you have done it.
I want to hear from you. I want to know how you and the other women in your life took the first easy step to start investing.
Write to me at : Teri.Frisch@TheModestEconomist.com
Tell me your story about how you got started.
By the end of 2020 , together, we can have 2,020 women investing.
Quick 2019 Recap
The S & P 500 Index returned 28.88% in 2019.
When you include dividend reinvestment, the return was 31.49%.
That’s crazy! And by no means a normal return.
When you have years like 2019 , individuals look at their portfolios and feel good about seeing a big increase in the value of their investments. That feel good feeling has a name: The Wealth Effect.
If you had $1,000.00 invested in a S & P 500 Index fund at the beginning of the year, at the end of the year the $1,000.00 would be $1,314.90.
To realize the gain, you would sell $314.90 worth of the stock. Taking you back to your investment of $1,000.00.
In a tax deferred account this is investment heaven because you reallocate the $314.90 without an immediate tax consequence.
In a taxable account, consult a tax advisor before you do anything. Gains are often offset with losses, so you do not have a “taxable event”.
January is the time to consider reallocating some of those gains to other asset classes or sectors.
Why ? Because 2020 will not be a repeat of 2019. The “market” will not be up 30%.
Since 1926 , there is only one year when a 30%+ gain was followed by a higher return.
- 1927: 37.49%
- 1928: 43.61%
- followed by a total collapse of the markets in 1929.
https://www.slickcharts.com/sp500/returns
By J.B. MAVERICK
Updated May 21, 2019
The S&P 500 Index originally began in 1926 as the “Composite Index” comprised of only 90 stocks. According to historical records, the average annual return since its inception in 1926 through 2018 is approximately 10%. The average annual return since adopting 500 stocks into the index in 1957 through 2018 is roughly 8% (7.96%).
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/042415/what-average-annual-return-sp-500.asp
This website is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation to buy, or a recommendation for any security, nor does it constitute an offer to provide investment advisory or other services by The Modest Economist LLC.
