How does one go about gathering like minded people to start a club? All my friends are too lazy to learn anything or too busy with night life. I am in Manhattan... and curious if there any new clubs here and how they got started? Any one interested in exploring the option of starting a club with me in this neighborhood?
eman
John Rice on
It might be easier to join an established club in your area.
John
On Wednesday, December 10, 2014 11:12 PM, Eman Lluf <dbx7200@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello
How does one go about gathering like minded people to start a club? All my friends are too lazy to learn anything or too busy with night life. I am in Manhattan... and curious if there any new clubs here and how they got started? Any one interested in exploring the option of starting a club with me in this neighborhood?
eman
Laurie Frederiksen on
Dear Eman,
It is often the case that the best people to get an investment club started with are not necessarily good friends. As you've noted, different people have different interests and priorities in their lives. The last thing you want to do is start a group with people who are not really interested in learning how to invest.
But that doesn't mean there aren't a lot of people out there like you. So how to find them?
I'd recommend you start with acquaintances. Ask around at work or other places where you get together with others. You might be surprised. If you can find a few people, they may know of others. You don't need a lot of people to start an effective investment club.
Once you find them, have some preliminary get togethers to make sure you can establish a common vision for direction. Make sure people understand getting involved with a club is a long term commitment. They should be ready to participate for no less than a year, but optimally much longer than that.
Here is some information you can have them take a look at that will show them why they might want to get involved in an investment club:
Once you find a few people who are committed to moving forward, I'd recommend you jump in and get started. Here is an overview of what you need to do to start a new club:
Since this is a business arrangement where money is involved, I'd recommend that you start with small monthly contributions from each member. You don't need a lot of money to start making investments and you learn just as much from purchasing a few shares of different stocks as you do from purchasing hundreds of shares.
Having a club gives you the opportunity to learn to deal with having real money on the line without bearing all of the risk yourself. The emotions involved with investing real money are something every investor needs to learn to handle. You don't get the same experience if you just do "virtual" investing. That is one of the reasons why an investment club is an ideal way to learn more about investing.
Good luck! Feel free to check in here with further questions as you get started. The members of this group have a lot of years of combined experience as members of successful investment clubs. They are very giving about sharing their experiences with those that ask questions.
Laurie Frederiksen Invest with your friends! www.bivio.com
How does one go about gathering like minded people to start a club? All my friends are too lazy to learn anything or too busy with night life. I am in Manhattan... and curious if there any new clubs here and how they got started? Any one interested in exploring the option of starting a club with me in this neighborhood?
eman
John Rice on
Your best resource on running an investment club is Bivio. So ask a lot of questions. When I started my investment club it seemed that no one in government knew anything about investment clubs. My city government told me that I needed a brokerage license and a business permit. If it wasn't for the staff at Bivio and the responders on Club Cafe I think that I would of just gave up.
John
On Thursday, December 11, 2014 5:41 AM, Laurie Frederiksen <laurie@bivio.biz> wrote:
Dear Eman,
It is often the case that the best people to get an investment club started with are not necessarily good friends. As you've noted, different people have different interests and priorities in their lives. The last thing you want to do is start a group with people who are not really interested in learning how to invest.
But that doesn't mean there aren't a lot of people out there like you. So how to find them?
I'd recommend you start with acquaintances. Ask around at work or
other places where you get together with others. You might be surprised. If you can find a few people, they may know of others. You don't need a lot of people to start an effective investment club.
Once you find them, have some preliminary get togethers to make sure you can establish a common vision for direction. Make sure people understand getting involved with a club is a long term commitment. They should be ready to participate for no less than a year, but optimally much longer than that.
Here is some information you can have them take a look at that will show them why they might want to get involved in an investment club:
Once you find a few people who are committed to moving forward, I'd recommend you jump in and get started. Here is an overview of what you need to do to start a new club:
Since this is a business arrangement where money is involved, I'd recommend that you start with small monthly contributions from each member. You don't need a
lot of money to start making investments and you learn just as much from purchasing a few shares of different stocks as you do from purchasing hundreds of shares.
Having a club gives you the opportunity to learn to deal with having real money on the line without bearing all of the risk yourself. The emotions involved with investing real money are something every investor needs to learn to handle. You don't get the same experience if you just do "virtual" investing. That is one of the reasons why an investment club is an ideal way to learn more about investing.
Good luck! Feel free to check in here with further questions as you get started. The members of this group have a lot of years of combined experience as members of
successful investment clubs. They are very giving about sharing their experiences with those that ask questions.
Laurie Frederiksen Invest with your friends! www.bivio.com
In the past, I started a couple of clubs because I couldn't find one where I was living. I typed out a notice with details and email address and phone number, and posted at places I thought interested people might see , i.e., bulletin boards at church, gyms, banks, grocery stores, libraries, dr's offices, etc. The response was almost overwhelming. When we all got together there were >25 people! These were smaller towns than Manhattan, but I found it easy to start a club. If you cannot find a club to join, start your own!
Phyllis Woodring
Treasurer
Model Club of Northern Virginia
DC Regional Chapter
Do what you can. Want what you have. Be who you are.
How does one go about gathering like minded people to start a club? All my friends are too lazy to learn anything or too busy with night life. I am in Manhattan... and curious if there any new clubs here and how they got started? Any one interested in exploring the option of starting a club with me in this neighborhood?
eman
Eman Lluf on
@Everyone: Thanks for helpful replies. If I can't find a club in my area, I have to explore the option of gathering people to start one. My main concern is whether I run into any problems with State regulator or SEC for publicly posting Ads to gather people. I have no plans to spend money on attorneys.
@John Rice: I Agree, it is easier to join an existing club. But I can't seem to find any. I am sure there are. Understandably, clubs are afraid to advertise even if they are looking for new members? If you start a club as a DBA or unincorporated group, then you may need to contact city govt / county govt. If I have to start one, I would form it as LLC, so I only have to worry about state and federal compliance. Did you start your club DBA, LLC, LLP ?
@Laurie Frederiksen: Thanks for the detailed response. I see a clutter of real estate investment clubs, just not regular ones to invest in liquid securities! Right now, the difficult part seems to be: locating an existing club in my area OR gathering like minded people serious about starting one.
@Gloria Graham: You confirmed my suspicion that close friends are a bad idea when it comes to gathering like minded people to start a club. How did you join an existing one? Did you respond to an Ad or word of mouth through friend of a friend?
@Phyllis Woodring: Is publicly advertising that you are seeking members to start a new club allowed by Virginia? Even JOBS act public advertising requires that you only accept accredited investors. I know that investment clubs, if all members actively participate, are not issuing securities. But it would be real headache and expensive to deal with lawyers, if one were to receive an inquiry letter from SEC or state regulator. When you advertised, did you have a securities lawyer standing by; did you receive any inquiry letter?
Gloria Graham on
I am going alone this time around. I need to think about my future and retirement. No more clubs for me. Good luck with your search. Have you tried BetterInvesting?
@Everyone: Thanks for helpful replies. If I can't find a club in my area, I have to explore the option of gathering people to start one. My main concern is whether I run into any problems with State regulator or SEC for publicly posting Ads to gather people. I have no plans to spend money on attorneys.
@John Rice: I Agree, it is easier to join an existing club. But I can't seem to find any. I am sure there are. Understandably, clubs are afraid to advertise even if they are looking for new members? If you start a club as a DBA or unincorporated group, then you may need to contact city govt / county govt. If I have to start one, I would form it as LLC, so I only have to worry about state and federal compliance. Did you start your club DBA, LLC, LLP ?
@Laurie Frederiksen: Thanks for the detailed response. I see a clutter of real estate investment clubs, just not regular ones to invest in liquid securities! Right now, the difficult part seems to be: locating an existing club in my area OR gathering like minded people serious about starting one.
@Gloria Graham: You confirmed my suspicion that close friends are a bad idea when it comes to gathering like minded people to start a club. How did you join an existing one? Did you respond to an Ad or word of mouth through friend of a friend?
@Phyllis Woodring: Is publicly advertising that you are seeking members to start a new club allowed by Virginia? Even JOBS act public advertising requires that you only accept accredited investors. I know that investment clubs, if all members actively participate, are not issuing securities. But it would be real headache and expensive to deal with lawyers, if one were to receive an inquiry letter from SEC or state regulator. When you advertised, did you have a securities lawyer standing by; did you receive any inquiry letter?
ira smilovitz on
Eman,
You probably don't want to run your investment club as an LLC in NY. There is a minimum annual filing fee of $25 for LLCs which doesn't apply to general partnerships.
Ira Smilovitz
On Fri, Dec 12, 2014 at 2:49 PM, Eman Lluf <dbx7200@gmail.com> wrote:
@Everyone: Thanks for helpful replies. If I can't find a club in my area, I have to explore the option of gathering people to start one. My main concern is whether I run into any problems with State regulator or SEC for publicly posting Ads to gather people. I have no plans to spend money on attorneys.
@John Rice: I Agree, it is easier to join an existing club. But I can't seem to find any. I am sure there are. Understandably, clubs are afraid to advertise even if they are looking for new members? If you start a club as a DBA or unincorporated group, then you may need to contact city govt / county govt. If I have to start one, I would form it as LLC, so I only have to worry about state and federal compliance. Did you start your club DBA, LLC, LLP ?
@Laurie Frederiksen: Thanks for the detailed response. I see a clutter of real estate investment clubs, just not regular ones to invest in liquid securities! Right now, the difficult part seems to be: locating an existing club in my area OR gathering like minded people serious about starting one.
@Gloria Graham: You confirmed my suspicion that close friends are a bad idea when it comes to gathering like minded people to start a club. How did you join an existing one? Did you respond to an Ad or word of mouth through friend of a friend?
@Phyllis Woodring: Is publicly advertising that you are seeking members to start a new club allowed by Virginia? Even JOBS act public advertising requires that you only accept accredited investors. I know that investment clubs, if all members actively participate, are not issuing securities. But it would be real headache and expensive to deal with lawyers, if one were to receive an inquiry letter from SEC or state regulator. When you advertised, did you have a securities lawyer standing by; did you receive any inquiry letter?
John Rice on
I started the club by just talking to a couple of friends about it and we started with 6 people. Even with 3 people it is worth it. We have had as many as 18 members and they have all been friends and family except for 1 person who found us through Bivio's Club Cafe. The easiest and cost effective way is to organize as a general partnership. I don't remember if there was even a filing fee in my state or advertising for a DBA. If it was it was a very minimal cost. I bought the book "Complete Idiots Guide To Starting an Investment Club". Got our EIN for the IRS and away we went. I think that
you are overthinking this and making it to complicated.
John
On Friday, December 12, 2014 11:49 AM, Eman Lluf <dbx7200@gmail.com> wrote:
@Everyone: Thanks for helpful replies. If I can't find a club in my area, I have to explore the option of gathering people to start one. My main concern is whether I run into any problems with State regulator or SEC for publicly posting Ads to gather people. I have no plans to spend money on attorneys.
@John Rice: I Agree, it is easier to join an existing club. But I can't seem to find any. I am sure there are. Understandably, clubs are afraid to advertise even if they are looking
for new members? If you start a club as a DBA or unincorporated group, then you may need to contact city govt / county govt. If I have to start one, I would form it as LLC, so I only have to worry about state and federal compliance. Did you start your club DBA, LLC, LLP ?
@Laurie Frederiksen: Thanks for the detailed response. I see a clutter of real estate investment clubs, just not regular ones to invest in liquid securities! Right now, the difficult part seems to be: locating an existing club in my area OR gathering like minded people serious about starting one.
@Gloria Graham: You confirmed my suspicion that close friends are a bad idea when it comes to gathering like minded people to start a club. How did you join an existing one? Did you respond to an Ad or word of mouth through friend of
a friend?
@Phyllis Woodring: Is publicly advertising that you are seeking members to start a new club allowed by Virginia? Even JOBS act public advertising requires that you only accept accredited investors. I know that investment clubs, if all members actively participate, are not issuing securities. But it would be real headache and expensive to deal with lawyers, if one were to receive an inquiry letter from SEC or state regulator. When you advertised, did you have a securities lawyer standing by; did you receive any inquiry letter?
Phyllis Woodring on
The clubs I previously started were one in NC and one in PA. It never occurred to me that there would be any legal problems and I cannot think why there would be. I just typed up a notice that I was wanting to start an investment club in that area and that if you were interested, please give me a call or an email. I gave my name, phone number, and email address. The calls started coming right away. The first club started with ~ 10 members and the second with >25.
Phyllis Woodring
Do what you can. Want what you have. Be who you are.
Sent from my iPad.
@Phyllis Woodring: Is publicly advertising that you are seeking members to start a new club allowed by Virginia? Even JOBS act public advertising requires that you only accept accredited investors. I know that investment clubs, if all members actively participate, are not issuing securities. But it would be real headache and expensive to deal with lawyers, if one were to receive an inquiry letter from SEC or state regulator. When you advertised, did you have a securities lawyer standing by; did you receive any inquiry letter?