ANDREWS AFB, Md. –
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner, Paul Atkins, visited recently and presented a briefing "What is your financial future" to over 600 Team Andrews members at the Reel Time Theater.
The briefing was part of an SEC outreach program. The Commissioner covered topics including personal investing, recovering from credit card debt, avoiding predatory lending, and understanding the long-term benefits of the stock market.
"We are very fortunate to have Mr. Atkins here today, as our financial futures are an important factor for long-term planning" said Col. Paul Ackerley, 316th Wing commander.
According to Mr. Atkins, people have many reasons for investing. The popular reasons are planning for retirement and children's education. He explained that in order to make money with investments people have to take risks. "The younger you are when you begin to invest, the greater the risk you can assume," said Mr. Atkins, "as you get older, or if you start investing later in life, you should not take as much risk as you have less time to recoup any losses."
Mr. Atkins went on to say that 'emotion' is the biggest pitfall when it comes to investing. He showed a clip from the movie "Boiler Room," where the lead character calls on an unsuspecting potential client and convinces him to invest with a firm. Mr. Atkins called the scene a "classic pump and dump." That's where the consumer gets an unsolicited call from an investment firm and through the course of the call, the consumer ends up investing in the firm. "What makes people invest during these calls," said Mr. Atkins, "is greed, because it sounds too good to be true." In most cases it usually is and the consumer ends up loosing money.
The commissioner told the audience that it's never to late to start investing. For military members and government service employees he said the Thrift Savings Plan is an excellent way to start. He did caution that diversification is critical to all investors and warned everyone, "not to put your eggs all in one basket."
"There are many places to save," said Mr. Atkins, "TSP, mutual funds, stocks or use a financial advisor or stock broker." Investment professionals are there to help you make money, but it will cost you money to use them.
Before you hire an investment professional, ask them lots of questions, get a copy of their prospectus document and make sure you and your advisor understand each other's goals and risk tolerance.
If you find yourself with more questions than answers visit the Security and Exchange Commission website at www.sec.gov/investor.shtml.