Like you, I'm going against conventional wisdom. I don't have my 18 year old daughter invested in mutual funds even though her account is under 25K.
If all a person has is 5K to invest, I'm buying 2 stocks of equal dollar value.
I'm going with a utility and an energy stock.
I was going to recommend KMR, but you have EPD, so that's fine.
Since the portfolio is limited, I'm taking the best qualified utility as opposed to the local one, in the event it isn't the best qualified.
Every 2.5K that gets added to the account, I would buy a new position in another sector, keeping it diversified and in something they can relate to. KO, PEP, MCD, PG, etc.
Where some may disagree with me, I would keep it in Aristocrats because they don't follow the market. I would want their funds in something where if they didn't look at the market, or their portfolio for 5 years, they would still have a comfort level, especially in the event of my untimely death and I wasn't there to monitor the account for them. (My son asked me ... Dad, what do I do if something happens to you? ... I told him everything is written down and his accounts are set up for automatic pilot.) :o)
I would have all dividends reinvested! At their age, the focus needs to be on compounding in my opinion. They have the time to let it work. |
