bserve the world, says top

Wednesday, October 27, 1993 - North Shore News ~ 65

BA grad

SEU student Steven Bovencamp offers some sensible financial advice

WHIEN STEVEN Bovencamp went to high schooi near
Lougheed, southeast of Edmonton, his high school put on
a Grade 9 graduation ceremony - for a class of four stu-

dents.

Bovencamp, now 22, has come a
Jong way from the farm where he
grew up.

Along that way, he has earned
more than $20,000 in scholarships
and earlier this year, when he
graduated from Simon Fraser
University with a 3.97 grade-point
average, won the Dean’s Under-
graduate Medal in business ad-
aministration.

- | always enjoy asking | a ‘student

. dike this with an interest in finance

‘ <he’s now enrolled in'the MBA

* program at SFU) how he deals

_ with his own finances and what
sadvice he has for others,

Both students and the rest of us

-€an often pick up some useful
“Adeas. So I asked Bovencamp:
“How do you manage your money?
“Conservatively. I keep my
“savings in bank accounts and term
deposits for the liquidity 1 need to
"pay for my education, and for
. safety.
eee | “Yoin’t have the time I need to
“-zanalyse riskier investments to feel
s.0mfortable investing in them.’’
- What are your financial objec-
; tives?
i ~ Most of the money I have will
‘po for my education. Over the
““samext three years, I want to have,
~ Money for a possible exchange
«Semester at the University of :
-: Manchester, about $10,000 (plus ‘‘
$5,000 trade-in) for a car and
‘ 32) 000 for a rainy-day fund.

“Bor the longer term, I'll then
“want to save for the down pay-
*"aMent on a home and toward

* wetirement. This ‘will have to wait
until I start working full time.”
| iow will you achieve your. objec-
V Qives?
- “IT plan to invest in stocks and
anutudl funds that will (hopefully)
* provide good returns through
capital gains. This will mean tak-

“Craft Circle hosts bazaar.

‘THE SENIORS’ Craft Circle at.
North Shore _ Neighbourhood

“House. is holding its annual
‘¢raft circle bazaar and raffle. /

Raffle items. include/a

* hand-decorated ' doll and’ a

‘double-size cotton quilt. Other

. items to be sold include hand-

»- knitted baby. clothes and lots of

“other new and white-elephant
items.

“ DOLLARS AND SENSE

ing some risks, but my future ear-
ning potential will provide a
cushion if I happen to make some
poor investments.”’

.; (After he gets his MBA,
Bovencamp hopes to work as an
analyst and eventually a portfolio
manager for a brokerage house or
ideally a portfolio management
company).
What are the best financial moves
you’ve made?

“T bought mutual funds on a
regular monthly basis (the
dollar-cost averaging approach)
instead of individual stocks. And I
suggested to others (but didn’t

‘have the money myself) to buy .
bonds or bond funds during 1990
and 1991 to realize capital gains as
interest rates fell.’’

Your worst financial moves?

“| may have been overly
cautious in my investing, and that
limited me to a lower return.

For example, | bought Canada
Savings Bonds which provided
liquidity (along with a poor

‘Tea and light lunch will be
available for a small fee.

Proceeds go towards seniors’
programs offered at the Neigh-
bourhood House. -

The bazaar: and raffle is
scheduled for Friday, Nov. 5
from }1 a.m. to 2 p.m. North
Shoe Neighbourhood House is
located at. 225 East 2nd St.,
North Vancouver.

ean

. Quality Dealership
* Retail Sales
¢ Service Technician

(in house)

* In and out in one day

TRUE DATA mee Ltd.

. 4101-125 West 2nd St., N. Van.

¢ Repairs guaranteed

Tues. - Sat.
9:00-5:00
FAX 988- 8271 288 8235

pear wa oBr

return) when I could have invested
in a longer-term investment like a
no-load mutual fund.

““My worst mistake was to sell
the shares of Surrey Metro Sav-
ings credit union, where I worked
summers and weekends, for $9 on
an odd-lot program — only to see
the shares more than double their
value within a year of being listed
on the Toronto Stock Exchange.”’
What financial advice do you have
for others?

“One of the best philosophies
for investing is just to observe the
world around you to see what’s
popular and what’s not.

“If something is popular, find
out who makes it, runs it or has a
product that complements it. That
should be the starting block for
which companies should be con-
sidered for more in-depth finan-
cial analysis.

“You will find it hard to be
consistently correct about your in-
vestments unless you look at the
underlying reasons why a com-
pany would be profitable.

“Yet by simply examining the
world around us, the smail in-
vestor should be able to pick up
on trends at least as quickly as
professional investors.

Other suggestions:

“Set your financial goals and
objectives and start saving for
them as soon as possible. Look at
your current position (age, net
worth, earning potential) to help
you choose investments (safe in-
struments with a low return or
riskier, higher-yielding invest-
ments).

“If you don’t have the time or
the inclination to analyse stocks,
you can still take advantage of the
stock market through buying ._
mutual funds which provide for a
small initial investment, profes-
sional management and diver-
sification.

“Don’t be ignorant about fi-
nancial planning. You don’t nec-
essarily have tu read the financial
papers every day but at least read
a book like The Wealthy Barber, :

by David Chilton, to give you the -

basics to help you start a financial
plan.”

Mike Grenby is a North Shore-
based columnist and independent
financial adviser who works with
individuals; he will answer your
questions as space allows — write
to him c/o The North Shore
News, 1139 Lonsdale, North
Vancouver ¥7M 2H4.

INTERESTED IN SAFE
ALTERNATIVES?
Please Call:

The North Shore’s only’
Full Service investment Firm

925-3131

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