basics of stock market investing

One of the ways to prepare for retirement is to invest in financial securities. And the best time to invest is now. Investment expert John W.

Rogers Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Chicago-based Ariel Capital Management, Inc., which has over $10 billion in assets, tells JET that knowledge dispels fear when beginning investors gain a general knowledge of the stock market and understand its normal for stocks to rise and fall. Its of critical importance to fortable with the jargon [of investing and the stock market] and fortable with the stock market, says Rogers, who is also the adviser to Ariel Mutual Funds.

A good many corporations have done away with pension funds and replaced them with 401K, and so that puts a real onus on individuals and African-Americans in general to really think about how to successfully save [andor] invest some of their 401K plans, because you have to make these choices early and make them right, or we as munity will have a hard time fortably when the es. Ariel has been working hard over the last 5 years to shine a light on the fact that African-Americans have typically not fortable investing in the stock market ...

[but] its important to get started early with your 401K plan and put money away for your childs college tuition as soon as theyre born. Weve been out there passionately trying to encourage people to save and invest more.

I think [investment concerns] have been heightened because of the severe downturn in the stock market thats now 2 12 years old, and a lot of investors have suffered tremendously. Theyve seen their 401K plan retirement dollars devastated because of the lack of diversification as well as a downturn in the general market.

Rogers goes on to add that he knows since 911 stocks have been extremely volatile, but such occurrences--while not normal in this instance--are typical with the NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange. [So] we try to remind people to think long-term and that over a 3-5 year period stock prices will recover.

Short-term volatility can scare even the most sophisticated investor out of the markets, but the successful investor is one who can think long-term, because these things [a volatile stock market] can go up and down, admits Rogers. The main thing fight now in terms of the 401K is that youve got to have a diversified portfolio; people who got burned [due to their stock investments] were people who had too much of their money either in pany stock, one large growth fund option, or whatever the hottest fund was in that period of time instead of having a diversified portfolio.

The main thing you need to do in [in these turbulent financial times] is to make sure you are working with an experienced financial advisor or financial planner. You need a `grizzled veteran, someone to advise you, someone whose been through the [tough times] before, stressed Rogers.

My father used to tell me, `theres no substitute for experience. Experience matters in tough times.

Rogers says the best way to weather the storm is patience and follow-through; while the good news is that Social Security isnt going to go away, the bad news is that you wont be able to retire and live off Social Security alone. How do you weather the storm? asks Rogers.

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