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FRED W. WRIGHT JR.Merrill Faegenburg: 83, retired, St. Petersburg
Q. How did you get started in investing?
After being in business for a while, I decided it was time to start thinking about my retirement years. This was the late '60s. My first investment was 200 shares of Gulf Oil stock.
Q. What is your best investment so far?
I would say IBM. I've been buying it over a long period. I was recipient of several of the splits.
Q. What is your worst investment so far?
Conseco, an insurance company. It went bankrupt. I took a good-sized bath on that one.
Q. What have you learned about investing that you think all investors should know?
One of the things I learned the hard way was not to buy stock based solely on the amount of the dividend. You have to research the company fairly well, not only its quarterly endeavors and cash flow and volume, but most important, its management.
Q. What do you find the most difficult about investing?
Right now, finding integrity in the CEOs of the company.
Q. How are you invested now?
I'm about 55 percent in stock, about 40 percent in cash and the rest in an income bond fund.
Q. What changes, if any, have you made in your investments in the past year?
Nothing particularly. I haven't changed my theories very much.
Q. Do you think now is a good time to invest?
Carefully, yes. I know interest rates will go up very shortly and I know it will have an impact on the stock market, so any companies that people invest in today should be fairly secure.
Q. Do you have a goal for your investing?
I'm pretty much in the twilight of my life right now. If I had one, it's already there.
Q. What is your biggest money concern right now?
That I don't outlive my money.
Q. Where do you get your investment tips?
I'm a great reader of financial news, Forbes, Business Week and the Wall Street Journal, and I take advantage of some information on the Internet.
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