CAPE NATIVE SHOWS HER READERS THE MONEY

Ellie Williams has struck out on her own in the publishing world.

Already a co-author on four books on investing, the Cape Girardeau native has published "The McGraw-Hill Investor's Desk Reference."

It's a comprehensive reference book that provides information for beginning and experienced investors, she said, although it is geared for people who have already begun the process of finding where to put their money.

Her involvement in finance goes back a long way.

"As a girl in high school, my dad taught me to manage my money," said Williams, the daughter of Rob and Donne Williams of Cape Girardeau.

After graduating from Central High School, she went to University of Missouri-Columbia to get a bachelor's degree in business administration. Williams worked with Mark Twain Bancshares before founding Moneywise with Diane Pearl and Linda Bryant in 1990.

The St. Louis-based company provides educational programs to individuals and through the work place to teach people how to make the most of their paycheck and how to make company benefit plans work for them.

Williams later bought her partners out and is now sole owner.

At Moneywise she offers one-day seminars. The seminars are generally focused on mid-level managers and covers topics such as revenue and pricing, calculating margins, generating cost savings and reading financial statements.

"I also teach seminars for employees to learn how to make the most of their company's retirement plan," she said.

The start of the company was also the start of several collaborations on investment books.

Williams, Pearl and Bryant co-authored "99 Great Answers to Everyone's Investment Questions" in 1993.

Williams and Pearl continued writing together, coming out with "All About Your 401k Plan."

An updated version of that book -- to be called "All About Retirement Funds" -- is already in the making, scheduled for release in fall 2002 by McGraw-Hill.

Smart woman's guide

Every woman needs to be a savvy spender, an educated investor and successful saver, said Williams. She cited some statistics from another of her books, "The Smart Woman's Guide to Spending, Saving and Managing Money," which she said is "a book for women, written by women."

Of 100 women who are 32 years old today, 85 will be on their own financially at some point -- six of them will never marry, 33 will see their first marriage end in divorce and 46 will outlive their husbands.

Meanwhile, women are controlling more money than ever before, she said. Some 30 percent of the 14 million individually owned businesses in the United States are owned by women; 72 percent of single-parent households are headed by women; and, 43 percent of individuals worth $500,000 or more are women.

WILLIAMS' BOOKS

Coming up in fall 2002

* "All About Retirement Funds."

Other titles

* "99 Great Answers to Everyone's Investment Questions," co-authored with Linda Bryant and Diane Pearl.

* "All About Your 401(k) Plan," co-authored with Diane Pearl.

* "The Smart Woman's Guide to Spending, Saving and Managing Money," co-authored with Diane Pearl.

* "101 Great Answers to the Toughest Financial Questions," co-authored with Diane Pearl.