Remember the Gutsy Beardstown Ladies? Well, they are still at it- still going strong and making money! Too young to remember? Let’s recall their successes and their regrets.
In 1983, more women were working outside the home and making money, not only for current expenses but they were thinking ahead for the future; for education for themselves or their children and particularly for retirement. Because most had little, if any, experience knowing how to receive the maximum benefit from their hard work, many of them created investment clubs with other women.
Most set a few rules, usually the ideal number of members, how much each would invest at each meeting, usually held monthly, and how they would choose the stocks they chose to study.
In 1983, a group of women from Beardstown, Illinois, a town about an hour west of Springfield, currently with a population of nearly 6,000, started the Beardstown Business and Professional Women’s Investment Club. It had 16 members and in 1995 it authored a book titled, The Beardstown Ladies’ Common-Sense Investment Guide, which sold well over a million copies.
Then came a huge controversy, which has been a lesson for all investors. The book stated returns to be much greater than they really were due to a computer error in calculation.
The club apologized, settled a class action lawsuit against the publisher, and, to their credit, kept investing.
It remains active, with sixteen members, of whom only two of the original women, Ann Brewer and Cornell Korsmeyer, are still living and members.
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