The Doubters Investment Club
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are the Doubters?
The Doubters Investment Club (DIC) is a group
of men and women who have decided to take a proactive approach to learning
about various aspects of financial planning, particularly those issues
concerning the stock market.
Members of DIC live in around Dallas and work
in a range of industries: real estate, medicine, education, computing, finance,
the environment, business administra-tion, retail sales, music… Some of us are in our 30's, others in
our 40's and still others in our 50's, 60's and then some. (Not everybody's
telling.) We're originally from Texas, Louisiana, New England, New York, and
points beyond. In short, we're a motley group of folk who share a desire to
learn about financial issues in a friendly, non-competitive, mutually
supportive environment.
How do members learn about financial issues?
DIC operates on the belief that one learns by sharing information and actively participating in club activities. These include:
• Regularly scheduled meetings.
Each month, DIC members gather to discuss current invest-ments, potential investments, trends and news regarding the stock market, and other infor-mation regarding aspects of personal financial planning. At this time, meetings are held the second Saturday of each month at 9:00 AM.
• Small-group activities.
To address topics of special in-terest, members are occasionally assigned to ad-hoc committees or "pods"; a pod is responsible for researching a particular topic and reporting its findings to the club at a monthly meeting.
• Special sessions.
On several occasions, DIC has invited industry experts to share their expertise on special topics such as tax law and insurance. DIC also has held at least one special session devoted to using the World-Wide Web as a source of financial information.
How is DIC financed?
Legally speaking, DIC is a partnership: each member is a partial owner of the club's assets. As such, new members are required to buy "shares" in the club (approximately $250), and must contribute at least $50 per month to the club's account. These funds are then used to fund DIC activities, including buying & selling stock. The club's accounts are managed by Charles Schwab; it is important to note, however, that all financial decisions are made by DIC members.
Because the majority of DIC's assets are held in the form of stocks, it is important to under-stand that membership does not guarantee a positive financial return; members assume what-ever risks are inherent in stock market investing.
How is DIC organized?
DIC is governed by a legal partnership agreement. The agreement stipulates that the membership annually elect four officers:
• Senior Partner (president & manager)
• Junior Partner (education
coordinator)
• Financial Partner (treasurer)
• Recording Partner (secretary)
Officers' powers are limited to administrative functions; in all other respects, DIC is a demo-cracy: each member is allotted a single vote in all club decisions, regardless of the number shares held.
Who can join DIC?
DIC will consider membership requests from any adult indi-vidual who shares an interest with the club's stated objectives and is willing to abide by the club's partnership agreement. In brief, all members are expected to:
• Regularly attend monthly meetings
• Participate in the club's
educational activities
• Maintain monthly contributions by
means of an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)
Membership
decisions are made collectively by DIC members at regularly-scheduled monthly
meetings.
For more information about DIC, contact any DIC member or
visit our web site:
http://members.aol.com/fsturner/dic/
© 2003
Doubters Investment Club
All Rights Reserved