But we have one more event to attend to before Cora and I head back to Chicago. My father turns a year younger every June. This month, he celebrates his 29th birthday, and the extended family is going to attend a big party. A reunion of sorts. I see it as a chance to show off my daughter. My daughter sees it as a chance to form an investment club.

Ever since I told Cora I wanted to research investment clubs, she has gone bonkers, bugging me to no end. "A club? What kind of club? Do you get a membership? Can we have invitations? Is there a secret code?" I've answered "yes" to all her questions, and so far I don't think I'm wrong.

We're both intrigued with the Value Line Year 2000 returns according to the National Association of Investors Corporation (NAIC). Women-only investment clubs topped Value Line's rosters in 21 states and the District of Columbia. Second runners-up were coed clubs from 19 states. Men-only clubs came in last, carrying eight states (Maine and Vermont didn't enter).

Value Line bases its ranking on four criteria - overall returns, longevity of the club, consistency of performance over time and results of individual stock picks. Four years ago, the NAIC reported that the number one goal of all-women investment clubs - ahead of turning a profit - was to learn about investing. Obviously, many of these women have succeeded in their goals.

Based on this information, we immediately have a good reason to start or join an investment club - to learn. Most women like some company in this process. It can be scary making that first investment. On the other hand, you might consider making this step because you're a lot like me - you need someone to sit on that mouse hand to keep you from constantly buying and selling stocks.

It's often very hard to join an existing club, since many members already have slots saved for friends or relatives. If you're lucky enough to be invited to join a club, go for it. Make sure you understand their overall investment strategy, and how much money they expect from you each month.

The really cool thing about the idea of a club is that you can do this with the intention of using the "buy and hold" strategy. One of the really great tools at BUYandHOLD is the club "bivio." You can register your club at BUYandHOLD and utilize the various tools to keep everyone feeling happy and secure (it's all about trust).

To help this whole process along is a new tool at BUYandHOLD called the View Only Access. This allows all club members (and others) to view a portfolio without messing with the bottom line. You can invite your children, accountant, club members and other interested parties to view the Balance and Holdings and Transaction History areas of your account. These folks can only observe the activity within these areas. They can't buy, sell, or alter your account in any way.

Since we have the View Only Access, we can feel secure about inviting the children to join the club. They can join? Of course! It's up to you and the other members to set the rules.

One morning, my father walks into the kitchen with that coffee cup of his and asks Cora what we're doing. Cora said, "We're getting stuff together for a special club." Dad asks who's going to join. "We want all the ladies and girls at the reunion to join," Cora answers.

My father laughs. "What are you going to do?"

Cora says, "Invest, granddad."

My father laughed even harder. "Good luck!"

I understand his disbelief. Half of my relatives don't even own a computer, which makes it hard to convince them to invest their money in a club registered at an online brokerage. More than half the investors in our family still use stock brokers for their investment choices. This is going to be a hard row to hoe. But, part of planting is to drop that seed. Who knows what will grow from this effort?

The top club this year in the Value Line survey was a woman's club in Tennessee. Ernestine Bowers, the founder, began learning about investments 12 years ago. In 2000, Bower's club, the "Progressive Women's Investment Club," had a 65.6% return with holdings like Coke, Dollar General, Intel and Microsoft.

Bower's club hasn't escaped the hits of this past year's heavy bear market. But the club view is that this is a great time to buy good quality stock. Cora and I agree. If we can convince the other women in our family that this is a wise idea, along with the plan of doing it together, we may just have a new club on our hands.

In the meantime, Cora and I are still investing in our picks with the BUYandHOLD dollar cost averaging method. We're happy so far, since the market isn't gaining much ground. As the summer simmers on, we're collecting shares and counting our lucky stars for the chance to keep buying low.

We hope you're doing the same!

Until next week,

Linda Goin

The information about the Value Line 2000 results was gathered from the May-June 2001 Special Issue of "Money for Women," page 14. This is a Time, Inc. Publication.