| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DECEMBER 27, 1999 |
Contact: Bill
Teets at (614) 644-7187 |
Department of
Commerce Urges Commitment to Wise Saving and Investing
The Ohio
Department of Commerce is encouraging Ohioans to include in their new year’s
resolutions a commitment to making sound saving and investment decisions. “Just as Ohioans resolve to become physically
fit, we urge them to resolve to become fiscally fit,” said Thomas Geyer, Commissioner
of the Department’s Division of Securities. “Like
regular physical exercise, regular saving and investing is a habit that can be developed
through commitment and discipline. Fiscal
fitness is a habit that literally pays dividends,” he added.
The State
delivers this message at a time when the rate of personal savings continues to decline. The U.S. Department of Commerce released
statistics earlier this year showing that personal savings as a percentage of disposal
personal income decreased to 0.5%, continuing a 20-year decline.
Geyer
recommended beginning a fiscal fitness program by developing a financial plan. “Research shows that people who set savings
goals, on average, save twice as much money as those without a financial plan,” he
noted. In developing a financial plan,
Commissioner Geyer recommended the following:
• define
the purpose for saving and investing;
•
set short-term and long-term financial goals;
•
establish a level of risk tolerance;
• consider
which saving and investing products are best for your goals and risk tolerance (including
employer-sponsored plans); and
• stay
disciplined.
Once you have a
financial plan in place, Geyer said that the word “THINK” serves as a useful
acronym when considering an investment opportunity:
•
Treating investment guarantees with
skepticism.
•
Honing in on your investment objectives.
•
Investigating before you invest.
•
Not being pressured into a particular
investment opportunity.
•
Knowing how your investment funds will
be used.
The Division
of Securities, which can be reached at 1-800-788-1194 or www.securities.state.oh.us, serves as a
resource for investors and potential investors, providing information about the licensing
status of those who sell securities and give investment advice, and information about
whether certain securities products are registered.
“Contacting the Division to gather
information should be a part of everyone’s fiscal fitness routine,” Geyer said. He noted that the Division provides, free of
charge, a wide array of investor education literature such as “Who’s Who in the
Financial Planner and Investment Adviser Field,” “Questions for Informed
Investors,” and the “Investor Bill of Rights.” While emphasizing that the Division does not
recommend or endorse particular securities products, Geyer did comment that “just as
those on a physical fitness plan stay away from junk food, individuals on a fiscal fitness
plan should probably stay away from junk bonds.”
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