Most of us think we're the best at the things we do, right? According to one survey, around 95% of us think we're above-average drivers. The reality is that, in many cases, we're simply deluding ourselves.
Just as bad drivers can cause big trouble both for themselves and others, those who suffer from financial delusions place themselves in grave monetary danger -- and that's why we at The Motley Fool are addressing that very problem.
Check it out: A study commissioned by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation found that when asked to assess how well they deal with day-to-day financial matters, only 9% of Americans rated themselves poorly. Yet even among those who rated themselves extremely highly, many engage in costly and fee-generating actions, such as making late payments on credit cards or bouncing checks.
And just imagine these folks trying to invest. For instance, they may look at the following stocks and think the lowest-priced ones are automatically the best values, even if other measurements say otherwise:
|
Company
|
SCAPS Stars
(out of 5)
|
Stock Price
|
5-Year Average Annual Return
|
P/E Ratio
|
|
Pier 1 (NYSE: PIR )
|
*
|
$5.60
|
(21%)
|
N/A
|
|
Chico's FAS (NYSE: CHS )
|
**
|
$13.85
|
(10%)
|
207
|
|
CBS (NYSE: CBS )
|
**
|
$13.90
|
(20%)*
|
31
|
|
Agrium (NYSE: AGU )
|
*****
|
$59.42
|
29%
|
20
|
|
Corning (NYSE: GLW )
|
*****
|
$18.98
|
11%
|
19
|
|
Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG )
|
*****
|
$61.30
|
4%
|
14
|
|
Hasbro (NYSE: HAS )
|
*****
|
$32.00
|
13%
|
16
|
Data: Motley Fool CAPS, Morningstar. *3-year average annual return.
We at the Fool have always aimed to increase financial literacy in America and beyond, through the free articles we produce every day and our wide assortment of investing newsletter services and other products.
Now, in our annual Foolanthropy campaign, we're "adopting" Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter High School. It's just 20 minutes from Fool headquarters, in one of the most impoverished neighborhoods in Washington, D.C. The academy aims to prepare students to succeed in college, and its first five graduating classes have had a 100% college acceptance rate. Throughout the coming year, Fool employees will be volunteering their time at Thurgood by offering seminars and other financial-preparedness workshops to students and their parents.
We invite you to join us. You can:
1. Donate. Make a tax-deductible monetary contribution and help this innovative school serve an underprivileged community. Learn more about the school.
2. Make noise on Fool.com. For every article comment, blog post and comment, and discussion-board post until Jan. 8, The Motley Fool will donate $0.10 to Thurgood Marshall Academy, with a final gift that could be as much as $20,000.
3. Volunteer in your own community, as we're doing in ours. Spend some time helping out a local school, a friend or relative, or an organization focused on educating kids about all matters financial. Look into Jump$tart, Junior Achievement, NCEE, or Operation Hope, to name a few.
As Henry David Thoreau wrote, "One is not born into the world to do everything, but to do something."
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