Your regular fixed salaries can no longer guarantee being the basis for which you will be able to squirrel away funds for a nest egg for the future, so in order to fulfil your goals of a comfortable life later, it is important to find ways of shoring up additional resources now.

When thinking about ways that you can earn more, especially in strange times like these, there are two options that always emerge as clear front-runners: investing in the stock market or starting a business. Both have their pros and cons, of course.

I decided to share the inspirational stories of a mother-and-daughter duo, Charmaine and Jo-Ann Morris, both long-time NCB customers, and who have chosen the two options: investing and starting a business, respectively.

Today we feature Charmaine, a mother who has over 30 years working experience in various fields and is currently employed full-time. She is also an award-winning writer whose work has been featured in many forums, including the Jamaica Observer’s Bookends. She enjoys reading, creating, and making soaps, her latest venture with daughter, Jo-Ann.

Lamar Harris (LH): Can you chronicle your journey regarding the decision to start investing? How did you become interested?

Charmaine Morris (CM): The first financial investment I can remember is purchasing NCB shares when they first became public. I think it was one of my sisters who suggested it or some other family member. Those shares were sold, but since then I have been purchasing shares and investing in insurance.

LH: Why investment as against starting a business?

CM: I have done both. As one partner of Rachael Lane [the company she co-directs with daughter Jo-Ann], I put cash into the business. Individually, I have slowly been rebuilding a portfolio. I also have other investments – not much – but there is some diversity.

LH: What do you see as the pros and cons of investment?

CM: There is no absolute certainty in predicting an outcome and that is probably one of the biggest cons. Especially when you are not an expert, as in my case. The big pro is always having money set aside and money that is growing.

LH: How long ago did you start, do you remember, and what was your first investment?

CM: About 35 years ago. But I’ve not been consistent, meaning, I’ve had to liquidate for one emergency or another. But I’ve been able to slowly build back and I try to be consistent in setting aside funds every month towards investment or savings.

LH: Do you think of your personality as risk-averse? So many women are afraid of putting their money on the line because it is just such a big risk.

CM: Not entirely risk-averse but cautious!

LH: What does your investment portfolio consist of? Stocks, bonds, Alternative investments, other?

CM: Traditional and junior market stocks, including a couple I picked up in the IPOs. I have insurance and unit trust investments split across three or four different entities. It is not a big portfolio but it’s better than nothing.

LH: How have dividends paid off over the years?

CM: I don’t have such a huge portfolio where I can live off my dividends. I mainly use them to reinvest or pay stock transaction fees. Where I’ve seen profits is when I had to sell shares and saw the gains in real time. There were maybe two times that I sold stocks for less than I purchased or the same.

LH: Do you have any COVID-19 jitters, in terms of how the pandemic will affect your investment?

CM: When I saw the stocks falling, I surprised myself by how not afraid I was. Instead, I started looking for stocks to add and I found a few. I encouraged family members to not look at their portfolio but to wait it out, and I think that was good advice because some stocks are already recovering.

LH: What are some of the lessons learnt in your investment journey? Any regrets?

CM: One key lesson I’ve learnt is that you need to be patient and temper your response, otherwise you will be tearing your hair out each time the market dips. If I were to name one regret, it would be that I do not have one investment from my youth that remained until now. But I will not let that distract me from my current goals.

LH: How would you encourage any woman thinking about investing today?

CM: Get advice. Be clear about your investing goals and be smart about it. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. If you must consult, do so with more than one person and do your own research. Read and keep up-to-date on the information, but do not stress. If you are in a constant state of worry, maybe that particular type of investing is not for you. Most importantly, use your common sense. If you didn’t buy, you can’t win.