July 26, 2004
BY LISA SCHENCKER
Associated Press

Like many Americans, Damon Williams joined a stock investment club to eventually put his children through college.

Unlike many of those Americans, Damon is just 11 years old.

After six years of investing, the ambitious Chicago seventh-grader has a portfolio of more than 30 companies worth more than $18,000 -- $4,000 of that profit. He is one of the estimated thousands of children in investment clubs nationwide.

''I want to pay my own way through college, buy real estate and see my children graduate from college, also,'' Damon said.

''I think a lot of parents are starting to realize that investing is not something you start when you're 30, 40 or 50,'' said Amy Rauch Neilson, teen newsletter editor for the National Association of Investors Corporation, a nonprofit organization that supports investment clubs and investors. ''They're particularly realizing what an advantage it would have been if someone had taught it to them when they were that age.''

April Williams, Damon's mother and founder of the Ujamaa Junior Investment Club, wishes someone had taught her to manage her money earlier. At the age of 30, Williams was a single parent maxed out on all her credit cards, and living paycheck to paycheck.

''I felt it was an insane way to live and a terrible legacy for my children,'' she said.

So Williams taught herself how to invest. She started the adult Ujamaa investment club and later the children's group to teach others how to do the same. The children's club now has 20 members ages 11 to 18, and a waiting list of nearly 30 more.

At meetings of Ujamaa, Swahili for cooperative economics, Williams and two other mentors encourage the children to pay attention to companies they and their families use in everyday life.

''You get to be creative,'' said Ujamaa member Ashley Baker, 17.

Ashley's mother, Louise Baker of Park Forest, enrolled the teen and her sister Amber, 14, in the club four years ago to give them an early start on financial security. Ashley's portfolio is now worth about $2,000 and Amber's is just over $1,000.

Investment clubs that follow the National Association of Investors Corporation philosophy seek to minimize risk by teaching long-term investing strategies, Neilson said.

Twelve-year-old Mario Gage, who plans to join Ujamaa this fall, said he wants to learn investing so he can eventually pay his way through Harvard University.

''I think I'll learn about smart choices to make when investing my money,'' the Chicago seventh-grader said. ''You never know what might come up.''

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