New-York tribune., 1922-01-15
4 Widows Investments

0uestion--A widow has oer n,on.v in.
es'ea .e"oo at at present 9t as follows: Mortgages
so25o sSS" a, . ~: = PEI, per cent @ due Max 1922;
Northern Railroad coupon bond 81 200 y,
~, ~ per cent, cent, due 1851 Chicago 81. Paul,
bond $4,000 at per cent due 1880; S"tfn so,ith'
ern Pacific stock $500, at p.r CENT
Atchison, ,'ar n, Topeka & Santa Fe. S., 900 at S
5000 a. ss per cent, due 1925 poI' Liberty "u'.y
bonds 100. at ~ per cent; virrina
II a'oi'na is a. N1smical preferred stock. 5000.
urai'y II compatible with absolute safely
cot'S co1'u TINS money be invested differ
sases gage at .xn,rf higher s percentage The mort
W,,,, yise ,re,'nVes.ing in mortgages. or how else
,Non, mou'u you advise any Of her other invest
uon msnis rs % neing Ing changed? In full. would
osss.nent Tor her holdings compatable with
E. +. H. s'0" return -
Answer--1t seems to US that you arc
apploachlng the problem of widows
tnseS.ments NV. I'm; from the wrong angle. The
llrst thing to think about in such a
case IS safety Of principal and regular.
NY OF income; the rate of return
should be second and marketability of
securities third. Under this plan the
nrst thlng to do would be to review
'ne Investments with the idea of
eliminating any in which the factor of
safety is not as high as it should be
Tor TINS class of investor AS rule,
we would be inclined to look askancc
at common stock, but in the case of
Atchlson and Southern Pacific, both
THESE stocks represent an interest in
companies which have shown sustained
earning power over a long period of
years IN good times and bad, and we
peheve that limited amount is q
good investment, even for widow de-
pendent upon her income from securi-
tles, 1he other securities are all high
grade bonds, with the exception of
ma-Carolina Chemical preferred.
ana as she only has two shares of this
we tnlnk that it might we'll be held
lor 10, the present. We have then re-
duced the problem to the investment of
the $lS,250, which she will receive j.,
the spring of the present wear from
real estate mortgages falling due. Her
present return from these is sliphtlv
less than o1a per cent, and while she
snould insist upon Very high factor
OF safety in the securities, which aro
purchased from the proceeds of theae
mortgages, 1t will be possible, we think
10 secure return slightly higher than
!nat which she now enjoys. With this
IN IN M m1no J., we suggest the following list:
5000 New York Telephone Comnanv
SS1AiIlS dL LUZ, to
yield about $50 per cent; 81, 900 United
States Steel Corporation sinking fund
5s, 1858, recently selling at about 99M
to yield sos per cent; $4,000 Chicago
Union Station 61ss, 1868, recently sell
ing at liz, to yield 5.73 per cent; $4,000
Vlrginian Railway first 5s, 1862. re-
Gently selling at about 80, to WELD 6
per cent $4,000 Hooking Valley first
consolidated AIS, 1899, recently sell
ing at 81, to yield about $50 per cent:
$1,000 New York Edison first and re-
funding SIS, 1941. recently selling at
l05 II, to yield 6.07 per cent; $1,000
Montana Power first IS, 1943, recentlv
selling at about 81, to yield $40 Der
cent; $4,000 General Electric debenture
IS, 1910, recently selling at 1903. to
yield 5.75 per cent, and $1,000 Willow
brook Dairy first mortgage Is, 1897. re-
Gently offered at 99h, to yield slightly
over per cent. At current prices
these bonds would cost slightly less
than $4,000, and we believe would give
very satisfactory investment list,
The last item is an unlisted bond re-
Gently offered and not possessing great
marketability, but we believe it is en-
tirely proper for inclusion in such
list.