Of the St. Louis American
Among the various booths and exhibits at the Missouri Black Expo this year were several financial planning seminars aimed at giving visitors information to help them build wealth. For those that were already investment savvy, Walter McKinney Jr., financial consultant with A.G. Edwards & Sons presented a seminar on rebuilding wealth.
Although the number of African-American investors is not as large as McKinney would like, those that are actively investing have endured some economic bumps in the road that have made them nervous. Many who had money in the stock market in the 1990s lost money if they had invested heavily in internet companies, but McKinney says there is a way to recover from such economic downturns.
“During the 1990s, people invested heavily in internet companies,” McKinney said. These companies eventually went bust and some people lost a large amount of money. Those that lost money probably became weary of investing altogether, but McKinney said they simply need to understand that the market has now changed and to choose investments that will allow their money to grow.
For those who have already tested the fire of the market and gotten burned, McKinney said they need to take their investment personality into account when they reasses their financial goals. Their investment personality depends on several factors including their age, the level of risk they are willing to make and the amount of time they plan to invest in the market.
When reassessing finances, McKinney said investors should sit with their financial advisor and go over several key questions concerning recent changes in the market, aspects of the market that have not changed and the course of action they should take as a result.
Since the internet boom of the 1990s, McKinney said the economy has changed significantly and investors need to understand how it has changed in order to make sound investments for the future.
“Investors are prepared to face the future if they know their personal investment personality, have an investment plan, have a properly allocated portfolio and are investing for the long term,” McKinney said.
After taking these indicators into account, the investor is prepared to make adjustments to their current portfolio if necessary, but no matter the decision, McKinney says there has to be a definite course of action. “Get a plan and execute it,” he said.
However, McKinney warned that changes to your investment portfolio should not be done without input from a licensed financial advisor.
“When we put together a portfolio, we have what we call a personal financial analysis,” he said. “A.G. Edwards does that free. If you have assets, then you want to get that booklet and fill it out and then you want to send that to us.”
McKinney says the free financial analysis provides clients and him the opportunity to go through their financial objectives and design a custom investment portfolio to help them achieve their goals in the most effective and efficient way.
“It looks at what their goals and objectives are, and it looks at their time horizon and how much they’re going to need to securely retire,” McKinney says.
Once you send in your financial analysis, McKinney says, a financial advisor will go over it and meet with you to create an investment portfolio suited to your needs and current financial situation.
Walter McKinney is a financial advisor with A.G. Edwards & Sons. For more information about the free financial analysis, call (314) 726-5050 or visit www.agedwards.com.