It's hard to read about any kind of financial topic these days without stumbling across references to investment clubs. Pick up your favorite personal finance magazine, and you'll probably see a story about a traveling troupe of trapeze artists who spend their time on the ground debating methods of stock selection in their family investment club. Or a class of precocious third-graders whose teacher helped them form a club that regularly outperforms the best Wall Street analysts. Or even the retired firefighters in their 90s who meet in their nursing home's recreation room to douse a small hot spot in their portfolio before it rages out of control.
What's so special about investment clubs? Why do you want to be part of one? All that you need to be an investment club member is some enthusiasm and a deep desire to find out more than you ever imagined about investing while having much more fun than you expected. Do you fit the bill?
Simply stated, an investment club is a group of people whose membership regularly meets, either in person or online, to study and then purchase individual stocks using a pool of money to which each member has contributed. Put another way, you and a bunch of your friends get together once a month to help each other learn about investing in stocks, and you collectively invest in those stocks that you decide have the best potential for future growth. Boiled down to its mathematical formula, that would be: Study + Stocks + Socializing = Investment Club
Investment clubs can take many different forms. Some are clubs made up of co-workers, family members, or high school students. People interested in starting a club may recruit people from their social clubs, their place of worship, or even complete strangers they meet at an investing event or by placing an ad in the local newspaper. Some clubs meet for an hour or two once a month. Some meet less frequently but then spend a weekend together. Other clubs never meet face-to-face at all.
Yes, being in an investment club and never meeting your fellow members is possible, even if you're all active club participants. Online clubs take advantage of the miracle of the Internet, and conduct all their club activities using e-mail, Web sites, and real-time chat to communicate. Completely online clubs are growing in popularity, as more investors become dependent on the Web for financial information gathering. Online clubs also are perfect for students or others who move frequently and therefore can't commit to a traditional club because they know they'll soon be living in a different county or state. Many extended families use online investment clubs as a way of keeping family members connected even though they may live far apart.
Listing # 0210 |
