CAPE NATIVE HELPS WRITE INVESTMENTS BOOK

They say you don't have to know all the right answers if you know the right questions.

A Cape Girardeau native, a partner in a St. Louis-based financial planning and education company Moneywise hopes her new book will provide some of the right questions for people to ask about their money.

Ellie Williams, Linda Bryant and Diane Pearl, who teamed up to found Moneywise in May 1990, recently authored a 192-page soft-cover book, "99 Great Answers to Everyone's Investment Questions."

"This book is for anyone interested in their financial health," said Williams. "The spendthrift 1980s are behind us; what people want now is financial education."

The 1990s are the decade of financial fitness, the dawning age of new investors, says Williams. The days of "trust me" and "sign here" are over, she said.

"The book will not make you a financial expert," said Williams. "No book can do that. We hope people will read the entire book, then use it every time they do something with money."

Williams said it took the trio about a year to put the book together.

"It was a lot of fun," she said. "The book has been designed for different types of readers."

Although the authors recommend reading the book from cover-to-cover, one of the chapters which has drawn early comment is one containing questions to ask when shopping for an investment adviser.

"This chapter has been a popular one," said Williams. "Selecting an adviser is an important decision. We have designed eight questions to help in selecting a financial adviser."

Questions have been designed for a number of topics buying and selling investments, mutual funds, stocks, annuities, bonds and life insurance.

"We can't reach all the people we need to with our business," said Williams. "This book will reach a larger audience."

The three authors are already discussing ideas for a second book.

Williams, who attended Central High School in Cape Girardeau, is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia. She has eight years of banking and brokerage experience, ranging from securities trading and investment advisory to managing a St. Louis brokerage firm.

Williams also developed Investing 1-2-3, a Moneywise workshop that teaches a framework for investing and evaluating advice from brokers and planners by knowing the right questions to ask. She is an experienced investment adviser and holds six securities licenses.

She went to work for Mark Twain Bancshares Inc. immediately after graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a bachelor of science degree in business administration. She left Mark Twain to found Moneywise.

She is the daughter of Rob and Donne Williams of Cape Girardeau.

"We teach skills that last a lifetime and explain how making and keeping money are two different concepts, requiring separate sets of skills," said Williams. "Just because you are good at making money doesn't make you good at keeping it."

Co-partners in the firm and in the book are Bryant and Pearl.

Bryant earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration and finance from Ohio State University and has 20 years experience in finance in a variety of industries.

She has worked extensively with individual investors and has been an innovator in the concept of impartial financial education. She developed Moneywise's Building for Retirement workshop. She has addressed audiences, including national conferences and at universities. She holds six securities licenses.

Pearl, a graduate from Lake Land College with an associate degree in retail management, was an investment club director for a major bank. Pearl's main concern was ongoing investment education for club membership. She developed the concept for "Organize With Moneywise," a 90-page guide designed to simplify record-keeping, consolidate important documents. It may also be ordered by calling 1-800-955-7373.