June 17, 1999

Tools and Pep Talks for Novice Investors

By LAURIE J. FLYNN
In Homer's ancient world, Cassandra was a beautiful Trojan princess upon whom the god Apollo bestowed the gift of prophecy. But when Cassandra refused to repay his generosity with sexual favors, Apollo put a curse on her: her prophecies -- all of disaster -- would be accurate but nobody would understand or believe her.



Thompson/FPG
Overview

• Tools and Pep Talks for Novice Investors

This Week's Site Reviews

• Wife.org

• Cassandra's Revenge

• Ka-Ching

• Money Mode


The Cassandra myth has been adopted by the modern investment community as a metaphor for foretelling disaster. For Ellen McGirt, the stockbroker- turned-Web-site- producer behind Cassandra's Revenge, the tale (adjusting it liberally) is a metaphor for the plight of women seeking to become investors. Given the right information, Ms. McGirt said, women should learn to trust their own prophecies and heed their own investment advice.

For many women, that's a stretch. According to Merrill Lynch's Ninth Annual Retirement and Financial Planning Survey, for 1998, most American women simply do not feel well prepared for making investment choices. Only 57 percent of women surveyed said they felt comfortable (compared with 78 percent of men).

The average woman will spend fewer years in the labor force than the average man.

To Ms. McGirt, this fact makes women far more vulnerable to money problems than men, given that they have less exposure to investment opportunities, retirement contributions and other advantages of employment.

The Web can help.

Resources on money, with a premium on self-reliance.


The early years of the Web saw the rise of numerous innovative small investment sites. Sadly but perhaps not surprisingly, by now most of them have disappeared, squeezed out in part by the onslaught of women's megasites. On those larger sites would-be investors can usually expect to find a predictable mix of investment advice columns, on topics like saving for your children's college education and for retirement.

What these sites try to provide is a comfortable place for women to seek information, form investment clubs and ask questions of experts and peers, all without leaving their desks. And then there are sites that, like the mythical superwoman, try to do it all, by providing scores of financial calculators and dishing out empirical advice on investment strategies.

Granted, there is no embarrassment of riches here; only a handful of these sites offer the appropriate tools along with the depth of research necessary for serious investors.




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