- Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz is a certified financial planner and the daughter of Charles Schwab, the founder and namesake of one of America's largest brokerage firms.
- In a video posted to LinkedIn, the two discuss Schwab's new memoir, "Invested," and Schwab-Pomerantz recalls the first piece of investing advice she received from her dad.
- Schwab told her to invest the money in her IRA in two equity funds. He said that diversification and time in the market is "the most predictable way to be successful."
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Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz grew up in the investing world. Her father, Charles Schwab, is the founder and namesake of one of America's largest brokerage firms.
But it wasn't until Schwab-Pomerantz was in her early 20s that the company found its stride and she turned to her dad for investing advice.
"I'm going to guess that you've forgotten a conversation we had many years ago," Schwab-Pomerantz says to her father in a video posted to LinkedIn where the two discuss the release of Schwab's new memoir, "Invested." Schwab-Pomerantz is a certified financial planner, author, and the board chair and president of the Charles Schwab Foundation.
"I was in my early 20s, I was living in Washington DC and I had just made my first contribution to my IRA. I called you for investment advice … and you said to me 'Just pick two equity funds and split the money.' And being 22 or 23 years old, I was a little disappointed because I thought for sure you'd tell me the hot stock to pick, I was going to make a load of money right off the bat," Schwab-Pomerantz recalled.
An equity fund is a collection of securities. Unlike an individual stock, funds are diverse. They allow the investor to own hundreds of different stocks, potentially in various markets, which mitigates their overall portfolio risk.
"That was your first investment lesson to me," Schwab-Pomerantz continued. "It is not about the hot stock, it's about participating in the markets, in the equity markets. It's about starting early and being a lifetime saver-investor."
Schwab replied: "That's for sure. That's the most predictable way to be successful."
The brokerage firm is famous for its straightforward approach to investing. Schwab says his mission is to make investing accessible to the masses. To that end, the firm recently eliminated online fees for stock, exchange-traded fund, and options trades made on US and Canadian exchanges.
"Passive investing is clearly a path for most people. It's really easy, and offers great diversification and low cost," Schwab told CNBC. Today, Charles Schwab oversees $3.72 trillion in client assets, spread across millions of brokerage accounts, corporate retirement plans, and banking accounts.
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