A COUPLE OF THINGS

go around which is why this 36-year old isn't an investor. Like so many other

Gen Xers, the money she manages gets spent rather than stashed.

OppenheimerFunds recently surveyed over 1200 people, mostly women, ages 21 to

34, about their spending and saving habits. Not surprising to anyone with

kids in that Gen X age group, 71 percent of the women interviewed had some

type of personal debt including student loans, car loans, mortgage payments,

and credit cards. Men surveyed had the same kinds of debt, but didn't carry

quite as much on their credit cards as their female counterparts.

Even with their debts, both sexes agreed that saving for retirement is

important even though only about one-third participate in the programs

offered by their employers.

When it comes to investing, more men invest in stocks than women, (43 percent

to 37 percent); more females buy bonds than males ( 39 percent vs 24

percent): more men own money market funds than women (29 percent to 24

percent): and, men tend to invest more in mutual funds than gals ( 40 percent

to 33 percent).

Ask these young people about the long-term performance on various kinds of

investment instruments and less than half knew that the best returns came

from the equity markets. When questioned about which investment went up the

most over the past 30 years, 41 percent said stocks; 21 percent didn't know;

18 percent thought it was money market accounts, 9 percent thought it was

CDs; 6 percent, bonds; and 5 percent savings accounts.

Even though most Gen Xer's knew that savings accounts didn't return much over

the long haul, it is the one spot they often chuck retirement dollars:

Sixty-five percent put some or a portion of their retirement money into

savings accounts. And while both Gen X men and women think that they'll live

at least until age 80, when asked if they knew they had a 50-50 chance of

living until their late 80s, only about half would save more money for

retirement.

Rifle through the results of the survey and you'll see that today's Gen Xer

probably isn't much different than their parents or younger siblings

are---most would rather spend the bulk of their disposable cash on stuff

rather than on the long-term goal of retirement.

"I'd rather spend $200 for great tickets to see AC/DC than put that money

into a retirement account, " says McCarthy, a Ft. Lauderdale resident. "You

know, live in the moment. And, I don't have a lot of extra money. If I were

making big dough and had lots of money, things might be different."

It's easy to understand McCarthy's thinking. But the one thing she's missing

is that it doesn't take "big dough" to start a long-term investment plan. All

it takes is a desire to do so and a plan that's doable.

For example, in McCarthy's case the first thing she can do to improve her

financial status is a no-brainer: Move the money she's got in her bank

savings account into a money market mutual fund. That simple transfer ought

not cost her a penny and will at least double the interest she's earning on

those dollars.

Her second move is a tougher one--- deciding to become a long-term investing.

Once that decision's made, the one that follows is figuring out how much

money you can live without from your paycheck. McCarthy admits that she could

invest $50 or $100 a month if she put her mind to it. If you're like her,

there are hundreds of mutual funds that you can invest that amount of money

into each month. So, there's no excuse for her, or anyone else who has put

off investing, not to set up a personal or qualified retirement account today

and begin to contribute to it on a regular monthly basis.