Introduction & Schedule

THIS CLUB HAS BEEN DENIED A CHARTER BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS IN A UNANIMOUS VOTE. CRAIG WITT ADDRESSED THE BOARD MAY 14, 2025. CLICK HERE TO VIEW HIS COMMENTS. 

WE MAY HAVE SOME OTHER EVENT SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE AND WE'LL KEEP YOU POSTED. THANK YOU FOR BEING SUCH A GREAT GROUP AND MANY THANKS TO CRAIG WITT FOR ALL OF THE TIME AND WORK HE PUT INTO CREATING A CURRICULUM WITH INTERESTING TOPICS FOR PEOPLE WITH A WIDE RANGE OF KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE IN INVESTMENTS. WE APPRECIATED THE GUEST SPEAKERS WHO BROUGHT A LITTLE MORE TO OUR GROUP FROM OTHER VANTAGE POINTS. 

I THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR COMMENTS, QUESTIONS AND SUPPORT. TAKE CARE, MARCIA 

The Investment Club is an experimental group at this point. In our first meeting we established that Craig Witt will be our leader. This is my first post: 

This idea stems from my sister’s need for help when her husband died. She was not a part of the investment decisions and did not know the fundamentals of investing. She was unaware of the ways to protect the money she had and grow investments. 

She went to their investment advisor who was dismissive and said to trust his skills. She changed advisors and I referred her to magazines and websites so she could understand the basics and be a part of the decisions. I’ve added some resources - just keep scrolling. [Now it's on another page in this blog.]

I love to read but I learn more in classes and discussions and it sticks with me longer if I can hear a Q&A. To this end, we are exploring the possibility of having an Investment Club.

Some clubs use 'play money' which is an amount available only on paper or a spreadsheet calculating what would have been earned or lost. We could combine simple explanations of types of investments along with everyone getting $100K in 'play money.' Individuals would determine how much they would “invest” in different products and when they would 'sell.' The club would track how these investments perform and individuals would gain knowledge and confidence for their personal investing.

Our leader is Craig Witt and unless otherwise noted, he presents/presented the topics below.

We met the second Tuesday of the month at 1:30 p.m. in the Rappahannock Room. Effective April, 2025, we discontinued meeting the fourth Tuesday of the month. 

ONGOING:  

Our simulator investment portfolio! You can think of it as a practice game for how to choose and track investment vehicles over time. We will use the Investopedia site to create a simulator portfolio for our group. This site provides virtual “money” so you are not investing real cash. If you are competitive or just want to see what you can do on the site, you can register your own simulator at https://www.investopedia.com/simulator/?inv_to_sim=global_nav#error=login_required&state=025d96d4-ec6e-44d3-8018-20d9760982ac&iss=https:/auth.investopedia.com/realms/investopedia. We're running this game from 1/29 through 5/12, discussing results May 13, 2025.

To View Downloadable Handouts, click here.

Completed meetings:

• Introductory Meetings: April 4, 2024 at 7 p.m. and April 9 at 1:30 p.m.
• May 14, 2024“How a Stock is Born”
• May 28, 2024 This event was about Bonds.
• June 11, 2024 "Stock Dividends and Preferred Stock"
• June 25, 2024 "Returns, Risks and Asset Allocation"
• July 9, 2024 Ray Dotson will present "Lessons From a Seasoned Investor." Ray has years of successful investing experience and I hope to learn more about how he selects stocks, what data he uses, etc. Please note: this is Ray Dotson’s experience and his approach to investing. It is not intended to be advice for specific investments for you. Please review additional disclaimers by clicking here.
• July 23, 2024 "Understanding Investment Costs"
• August 13, 2024 Noel Metcalfe "ETFs"
• August 27, 2024 "Special Q&A Session on Investing" with Craig Witt, Noel Metcalfe, John Simeon and Ray Dotson
• September 10, 2024  "Economic Indicators and Their Impact on the Market" with Craig Witt
• September 24, 2024 "Useful Investment Websites" with Craig Witt
• October 8, 2024 Guest Speaker: Marie Daly - "Medicare 2024 IRMAA Brackets Amounts and How to Forecast for Retirement" and "Taxes: Your Questions Answered. Please note: this is Marie Daly’s informational presentation and is not intended to be advice for specific investments or taxes for you. Please review additional disclaimers by clicking here. 
• October 22, 2024  "Can you beat the market?" Starring Craig Witt
• November 12, 2024 "Real Estate as an Investment and What the New Commission Structure Means for Buyers and Sellers" with She Williams-Hinnat, ABR, CIPS, CRS,GRI, MRP, PSA, SRES, Realtor AT 1st Choice (There is no handout for this presentation.)
• November 26, 2024: No meeting - Happy Thanksgiving Week!
• December 10, 2024: "Tools For Picking Stocks" with Craig Witt
• December 24, 2024: No meeting - Xmas and Chanukkah family and friends time. Happy Holidays!
• January 14, 2025: We dedicated this time to addressing our most pressing investment questions.
• February 11, 2025: Frank Boucher, our guest speaker, presented "Your Investments and Your Financial Plan." For the download, please click here.
• February 25, 2025: Jonathan B. Osler, PLLC presented "Overview of Estate Planning: Learn How to Protect Your Assets and Plan for the Future.” You can read more about him on his website at https://oslerlaw.com. This event was held at the William J. Howell Branch Library.
• March 11, 2025: we reviewed a stock market investing philosophy with a video lecture by Dr. Connel Fullenkamp from Duke University. This was through The Great Courses website. Craig's subscription is through The Great Courses Plus, and he said there are many good instructional videos to consider. Afterward we had a Q&A and discuss applications to our investments.
• March 25, 2015: Marcia Stein presented the Five Wishes program. This is for advanced care planning and includes topics as mentioned on their website. We are using it as a guideline for letting our family know our wishes and have it documented by the attorney.  Note: this is not faith-based, is legal in most but not all states. This is for your information and is not advice. 
• April 8, 2025:  Craig Witt presented information about Annuities, what they are and the pros and cons of investing in them. 

• January 28, 2025: Started our simulator portfolio! You can think of it as a practice game for how to choose and track investment vehicles over time. We will use the Investopedia site to create a simulator portfolio for our group. This site provides virtual “money” so you are not investing real cash. If you are competitive or just want to see what you can do on the site, you can register your own simulator at https://www.investopedia.com/simulator/?inv_to_sim=global_nav#error=login_required&state=025d96d4-ec6e-44d3-8018-20d9760982ac&iss=https:/auth.investopedia.com/realms/investopedia. We're running this game from 1/29 through 5/12, discussing results May 13, 2025.