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Letter from Boston

Investing My Money

By MASAKO YAMADA


お金を有効利用する

雅子さんは大学から生活費をまかなえるだけの奨学金をもらっています。また、フリーランスの仕事からも収入があります。でも、自分のお金をもっと有効に利用する方法はないかと考えた雅子さんは、いろいろな投資方法について調べ始めました。

Being a graduate student doesn't mean that I'm immune to the practical details of life, such as managing my money. If anything, the fact that I'm not earning the same kind of money that I would at a full-time job makes me more careful about how I spend it. Make no mistake: I'm living a pretty comfortable life. With three roommates to share expenses and no kids of my own, I don't need much money to support myself. All of the graduate students in my department are exempted from having to pay tuition, my scholarship covers my living expenses (including treats such as movies and dinners out), and my freelance earnings allow me to pay for extravagant luxuries such as piano lessons and nice party dresses.

Even though I tend to live very frugally, I don't get the sense that I'm being deprived. That said, I'm not simply content with my comfortable lifestyle. I'd like to have the peace of mind of knowing that I have substantial savings on which to fall back - in case of an emergency, or in case I decide to quit grad school and I don't have a job for a while. Instead of living paycheck to paycheck, I'd like to be able to put away some money each month.

For many people, putting all of their extra moeny in the bank is the safest and most logical choice. However, most of my friends have looked into stocks and bonds, and quite a few of them have invested in them. Indeed, many company retirement plans involve employee investing part of their earnings in stocks and bonds. The primary reason why this is encouraged is because stocks and bonds usually perform much better than saving accounts do. Bank interest rates barely beat out inflation. There are many scary stories of people losing all of their money (or worse, borrowed money) by playing the stock market, but as long as investors make sure that they diversify their portfolios, investments tend to give much higher returns.

One common misconception that noninvestors have is that it takes a lot of money to invest. The famous Beardstown Ladies say that even putting away $25 to $50 (¥2,900 to ¥5,800) a month is to your advantage. Of course, the less money you have, the less risk you want to take. But it makes sense to try to make the most of what (little) you have. I'm a small-scale, beginning student at the game, and I don't want to make any mistakes, so I've tried asking around to catch the latest scoop from Wall Street. I have a lot of friends who work in the financial sector or who are simply very attuned to the scene and since they rely on their knowledge to make their living, I figured they'd be the people to ask. I've gotten quite a bit of advice.

Mike's dad: "Read `The Idiot's Guide to Making Money on Wall Street.' What you invest in depends on your individual style. Just remember to keep records of everything." Chris: "Invest in a field that you're familiar with. In your case, it would be science." Jim: "Put it in an index fund." Yuri: "Mutual funds." John: "Tell me how much you're willing to put down, how risk averse you are, and how long you can wait for the portfolio to mature I'll give you advice on which stocks to buy." Matt: "Choosing your own stocks is more fun. I'll give you the names of discount brokers that you can contact. Hey, let's check my stock performance on the Web."

My friends have been surprisingly open in giving their insight I say "surprisingly" because I somehow felt that they'd want to keep their expertise to themselves. But there are so many options, and so much of the information out there is complicated or contradictory, that I haven't been able to make any decision yet. I'd been hoping that I'd be able to use my free time this summer to look into the field, but the summer is starting to wind down and I haven't gotten any closer to reaching a conclusion. And perhaps I ought to set my priorities straight.

Joseph: "You're a grad student!! What do you need money for!? Just study now and worry about money after you get a real job."


Shukan ST: Aug. 8, 1997

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