Ariel Investments co-CEO and president Mellody Hobson speaks at the 2017 Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, D.C.

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Investment expert Mellody Hobson is a firm believer in teaching kids about investing.

She'd like it taught at every school in America even at a young age.

"It should be like learning a language," Hobson, co-CEO and president of Chicago-based Ariel Investments, said in a recent online interview with Sal Khan, founder and CEO of the nonprofit education platform Khan Academy. "I have a 6-year-old and she takes Spanish at school.

"Once you can start early, you become very facile in the language and I think that's very, very important," added Hobson, who was named by Time magazine in 2015 as one of the "100 Most Influential People" in the world. She also also serves as vice chair of the Starbucks board and director of JPMorgan Chase's board, and previously the chairman of the board for DreamWorks Animation.

Yet for many Americans, early schooling in investing is not a reality.

More from Invest in You: This is the biggest money lesson kids will learn during the coronavirus crisis 5 free online courses that can help you learn how to invest Here's a great home-school idea: Teach your kids about money

Aside from having the family's banker, stock broker or financial analyst imparting lessons, one thing parents can do is buy their children a share of stock every year as a gift for their birthday or a holiday.

It's something Ariel Investments co-CEO and chief investment officer John Rogers received from his father every birthday and Christmas instead of toys, starting when Rogers was 12 years old, according to Hobson.

While you may not want to do the "instead of toys part," you can still teach your kids the fundamentals of investing, she said.

"You can do that with a child by giving [them] gifts of stock of things that they know and like," Hobson noted. "That's the gift that keeps giving, instead of the toy that becomes obsolete at some point."

That could mean names like toy-maker Mattel, Playstation maker Sony, McDonald's or Nike things that kids, or teens, "understand fundamentally," she explained.

Doing so "ultimately may create some interest there that they can watch and understand the benefits of ownership and equity as opposed to consumerism."

Hobson is clearly passionate about the cause, once calling financial illiteracy "dangerous" for society. She is chairman of After School Matters, a Chicago-based non-profit that provides teens with high-quality after school and summer programs.

"You can go to high school in America today and take woodshop or auto and not a class on investing," she told Khan Academy. "Who is whittling in their spare time? Who is clearing their own carburetor?"

Yet understanding the basics of things that have a "profound potential effect on your long-term financial security" like the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and market capitalization "we don't teach it."

The "fire" was lit for her to teach others about money after she rose out of a "challenging" childhood and discovered her love for investing.

I was desperate to understand money. Not make it. Not have a lot. Understand it.

Mellody Hobson

co-CEO and president of Ariel Investments

As a child, her family faced evictions and lived in abandoned apartments that her single mother tried to fix up and rent in order to make a living.

"I was desperate to understand money," Hobson said. "Not make it. Not have a lot. Understand it.

"I thought if I could understand money, I could have a better life," she added.

While attending Princeton University, she worked as an intern at Ariel Investments. After graduating in 1991, she went to work for the firm and has been there ever since.

"I really love the business that I am in," Hobson said.

"We get to make people's lives better because we grow their money in their pension fund or their kids' college education money that's in our mutual funds, whatever it might be, so that they can have a better outcome and that's as fulfilling as anything that anyone can do."

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This is the one thing you can do to teach your kids about investing, according to financial guru Mellody Hobson - CNBC

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 1, 2020 / Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Zoom Video Communications, Inc. ("Zoom" or the "Company") (ZM) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court for the Northern District of California, and indexed under 20-cv-02353, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants who purchased or otherwise acquired Zoom securities between April 18, 2019, and April 6, 2020, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants' violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.

If you are a shareholder who purchased Zoom securities during the class period, you have until June 8, 2020, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at http://www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

Zoom provides a video communications platform application ("app") that allows users to interact with each other primarily in the Americas, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Users may connect through frictionless video, voice, chat, and content sharing. The Company's cloud-native platform enables face-to-face video experiences and connects users across various devices and locations in a single meeting. The Company serves education, entertainment/media, enterprise infrastructure, finance, healthcare, manufacturing, non-profit/not for profit and social impact, retail/consumer products, and software/Internet industries, as well as individuals.

On March 22, 2019, Zoom filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the SEC in connection with its initial public offering ("IPO"), which, after several amendments, was declared effective by the SEC on April 17, 2019 (the "Registration Statement").

On April 18, 2019, Zoom filed a prospectus on Form 424B4 with the SEC in connection with its IPO, which purported to provide information necessary for investors to consider before partaking in its IPO and purchasing the Company's newly publicly-issued stock (collectively with the Registration Statement, the "Offering Documents").

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Zoom had inadequate data privacy and security measures; (ii) contrary to Zoom's assertions, the Company's video communications service was not end-to-end encrypted; (iii) as a result of all the foregoing, users of Zoom's communications services were at an increased risk of having their personal information accessed by unauthorized parties, including Facebook; (iv) usage of the Company's video communications services was foreseeably likely to decline when the foregoing facts came to light; and (v) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

The truth about the deficiencies in Zoom's software encryption began to come to light as early as July 2019. However, due in large part to the Company's obfuscation, it was not until the COVID-19 pandemic in March and April of 2020, with businesses and other organizations increasingly relying on Zoom's video communication software to facilitate remote work activity as governments increasingly implemented shelter-in-place orders, that the truth was more fully laid bare in a series of corrective disclosures. As it became clear through a series of news reports and admissions by the Company that Zoom had significantly overstated the degree to which its video communication software was encrypted, and organizations consequently prohibited their employees from utilizing Zoom for work activities, the Company's stock price plummeted, damaging investors.

Story continues

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See http://www.pomerantzlaw.com

SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP

View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/587976/SHAREHOLDER-ALERT-Pomerantz-Law-Firm-Reminds-Shareholders-with-Losses-on-their-Investment-in-Zoom-Video-Communications-Inc-of-Class-Action-Lawsuit-and-Upcoming-Deadline--ZM

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SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Reminds Shareholders with Losses on their Investment in Zoom Video Communications, Inc. of Class Action Lawsuit...

LeBron James made $700 million through being a "silent investor" in headphones brand Beats by Dre, says the 35-year-old's former teammate Kendrick Perkins.

Perkins and James reached the NBA finals together while playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015, and have remained close friends since.

Speaking on "Runnin' Plays: A Golden State Warriors Podcast"on Tuesday, Perkins revealed James to be somewhat of a business mastermind, describing him as a "the chosen one" because of his enormous success in all ventures of life.

"The crazy thing to me about LeBron James is that he is the chosen one in life," said Perkins. "I tell him all the time 'I really hate you. I hate you!' And he'll be like 'What you mean, Perk?!''I hate you because everything you touch turns into gold!"

Perkins added: "He invested $4 million in a soccer team and all of a sudden he's worth $30 million. When Dr. Dre got the big contract for the Beats by Dre, when they wrote him that check, LeBron James got $700 million off of it. He was a silent investor in the Beats and nobody knows this."

According to Sportscasting, James partnered with Dr. Dre to become an ambassador for the brand in 2008, however ended up having part ownership of the company. It was reported by Bleacher Report in 2014 that James had made only $30 million from the partnership.

Insider has not independently confirmed whether or not James actually made $700 million from an investment in Beats.

"Even when we were gambling with playing cards, he would always win," Perkins concluded. "He really is the chosen one."

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LeBron James made $700 million on Beats by Dre investment: ex-teammate - Insider - INSIDER

Do you like finding the silver linings in dark clouds? The COVID-19 pandemic has, figuratively speaking, caused a very dark cloud to hover over the entire world. But there is at least one silver lining. Quite a fewpromising stocks of companies that are focused on battling the novel coronavirus have captured investors' attention.

Mind you, not every coronavirus-focused stock is a great pick. Some have skyrocketed well above what they're worth. But some remain attractive alternatives for long-term investors. If you have $3,000 to invest, here are three top coronavirus stocks that you can buy right now.

Image source: Getty Images.

Abbott Labs (NYSE:ABT) introduced its first diagnostic test for COVID-19 on March 18 for its m2000 system after obtaining FDA emergency use authorization (EUA). Only 11 days later, the healthcare giant revealed the fastest COVID-19 diagnostic test yet, one that runs on its widely used ID NOW platform.

Fast-forward to mid-April when Abbott launched its third COVID-19 test. This one supported the detection of antibodies to determine if a person has recovered from infection by the novel coronavirus. It's fair to say that no company has been more at the forefront of COVID-19 diagnostic advances than Abbott Labs.

But Abbott is an enormous company with a lot more going on than just its COVID-19 efforts. The company has achieved tremendous success recently with innovative products including its Freestyle Libre continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system and its Alinity suite of lab diagnostics systems. These and other products make Wall Street analysts think that Abbott will be able to generate average annual earnings growth of more than 10% over the next five years.

In addition to these solid growth prospects, Abbott offers a solid dividend that yields more than 1.5%. Expect that dividend to grow in the future. It certainly has in the past: Abbott Labs has increased its dividend for an impressive 48 years in a row.

While Abbott Labs has made waves with its COVID-19 diagnostics capabilities,Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) has been at the center of attention with its antiviral drug remdesivir. Gilead originally developed the drug to treat Ebola. Remdesivir wasn't very effective with that virus, but it's shown promise in treating COVID-19.

There has been a lot of speculation in recent weeks about just how effective remdesivir could be as a COVID-19 therapy. We now know that the results from two late-stage studies, one conducted by Gilead and the other by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, that show the drug appears to be safe and effective in treating COVID-19.

Although many people are fixated on remdesivir, a potentially bigger story to watch is with another drug -- filgotinib. Gilead hopes to soon win U.S. and European approvals for the drug in treating rheumatoid arthritis. It's also evaluating filgotinib in clinical studies targeting other immunology indications.

Looking a little further down the road, Gilead has a potential game-changer with its long-acting HIV capsid inhibitor GS-6207. The drug is only in phase 2 testing right now, but it could be the face of the future for Gilead's tremendously successful HIV franchise.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) is the outlier with these three stocks. It's only a fraction of the size of Abbott Labs and Gilead Sciences. It doesn't have any approved products on the market. But this small biotech stock could be the biggest winner of the three over the next few years.

Some investors are excited about Novavax's experimental COVID-19 vaccine. The company announced earlier this month that it plans to begin clinical testing of the vaccine in mid-May. Novavax is working with Emergent BioSolutionsto manufacture the vaccine.

However, the real buzz for Novavax is for its nanoparticle-based flu vaccine NanoFlu. In March, the biotech reported overwhelmingly positive results from a late-stage study of NanoFlu in a head-to-head matchup with Sanofi'sFluZone Quadrivalent, a leading vaccine already on the market.

Estimates vary for how much NanoFlu could make if it's approved, with one analyst projecting around $550 million and another looking for peak annual sales of close to $1.7 billion. With Novavax's market cap currently at around $1 billion, even the low target for its flu vaccine should mean that this stock has plenty of room to run.

All three of these companies have at least one common denominator in that they're all in the COVID-19 fight, albeit in different ways. However, the stocks also have something else in common: While they could win from their coronavirus programs, other products are the real growth drivers to watch. An initial investment of $3,000 spread across these stocks could generate massive returns over the long run for patient investors.

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Have $3000 to Invest? Here Are 3 Top Coronavirus Stocks to Buy Right Now. - Motley Fool

As employees around the country settle into a work-from-home routine, ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott estimated there will be $7.4 trillion invested in the digital transformation of business operations over the next three years.

"People are going to get much more comfortable working in a virtual world," McDermott said. "This social distancing is not gonna go away anytime soon, and companies that aren't already digitally transformed and able to pull this off they have a burning platform now. They have to lean into this."

Before the pandemic, only 7% of workers had access to a "flexible workspace" benefit, or telework, according to Pew Research Center. Now 42% of workers who previously did not work from home are doing so, according to CNBC's All-America Economic Survey.

Drew DeSilver, a senior writer for Pew Research Center, said the situation is "a large and unexpected experiment" of whether companies will make the switch to telework.

On CNBC on Thursday, McDermott made the case that a company's return on investment in adapting to virtual operation will be at least five times the amount it invests in any given year, and most companies see a payback in less than six months. ServiceNow's stock roseafter the company's quarterly earnings beat projections.

Along with its Q1 earnings, the company also released updated guidance for both Q2 and full-year 2020, taking into account the impact of coronavirus.ServiceNow is up 48% year-over-year in deals of $1 million or more, it said. The cloud computing company itself has around 11,000 employees working from home.

McDermott said that the CEOs he has spoken with are not focused on growing revenue right now, but protecting it, as well as "keeping operations going and driving productivity."

In March the software company released four apps offering emergency response assistance to help companies navigate the pandemic. The apps, which are free for existing customers, focus on operations, exposure management, emergency outreach and self reporting.

"They all want a fast time-to-value scenario, and that's what we do," he said. "We're talking hours, days, a couple of weeks, not years."

Weekly jobless claims reached 3.84 million last week, which brought the total over the last six weeks to more than 30 million. Furthermore, a quarter of American workers have lost their job or had their wages cut due to the pandemic.

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$7 trillion to be invested in making work more digital by 2023: ServiceNow CEO - CNBC

Investing missteps can cost you.

Say you leave a job and cash out your 401(k). If you are younger than 59, the IRS will want you to pay income taxes on it right away, and they'll smack you with a10% penalty.

And it's not just a matter of getting a smaller amount. You are also forfeiting decades of growth on that money, which you'll need in retirement. Thisearly withdrawal calculatorshows what you're really giving up.

There's a lot to learn about investing. It may feel scary and impossible to learn. Don't let it stop you from starting, though, because it can be a great way to build wealth even when the stock market is rocky.

These five gaffes are easy to make and even easier to avoid.

Start investing when you're young. You have decades ahead of you, says Mike Loewengart, vice president of investment strategy atE-Tradein Jersey City, New Jersey.

Once upon a time, savings accounts gave you compounded interest, but the yield is no longer as good sinceinterest rates are so low.

"Compounding is a simple way of saying that interest is building on interest," Loewengart said. "That long runway is such a powerful advantage."

Risk tolerance, diversification, asset allocation, rebalancing, equities, sectors. If you're one of those who throws up their hands and says, "Just do it for me!" there's an investment just for you.

It's called atarget-date fund, and it's preset, like a cake mix. A target-date fund has the right composition of stocks and bonds to match your age and investing horizon.

More from Invest in You: Three ways to make an uncertain income more certain If you think your job is on the chopping block, here's what to do This simple financial plan makes it easier to get through tough times

But there are two ways to mess up your target-date fund strategy. First, you might try to make it diversified by adding more funds. "Especially for younger people, the funds five or 10 years apart are very similar," said Jeanne Fisher, a certified financial planner with Global Retirement Partners in Nashville, Tennessee, and ambassador to the CFP Board.

Another way of defeating the fund's purpose: investing in anS&P 500index fund, for instance, that duplicates what the target-date fund already holds.

Your 401(k) is not free. Surprised?

Yes, your employer wants you to save for retirement. That costs money, however.

"Fees can include the costs of buying and selling investments, owning investments and whether or not someone is helping you manage your investments," said CFP Douglas Boneparth, founder and president of Bone Fide Wealth in New York.

These costs as much as$467 a year, for example, on a balance of $103,700 can impact returns. The more you pay in fees, the less you'll have invested and available to compound over time.

Look at context. Target-date funds, for example, are actively managed and therefore generally more expensive than passively managed index funds. In short, you are paying for a manager to manage an allocation for you. "But in the world of funds, it's pretty inexpensive," Fisher said.

Be wary of the false confidence of those who moved to cash when the market was going down. "That's only half the story," Fisher said. "People who get out never know when to get back in."

In fact, Fisher says, the best rebounds take place after crashes.

Was the market downturn in 2008-2009 scary? Absolutely. Some people pulled out and patted themselves on the back.

"If they never got back in, they missed the whole upside," Fisher said.

Vanguard found that investors who stayed the coursemore than regainedwhat they had lost. A hypothetical $50,000 investment in an S&P 500 index fund would have dipped by half in early 2009 and then rebounded to $84,200 by 2015, the fund company showed.

Being conservative is an unintended risk for investors, says Loewengart.

Shying away from equitiesmeans you'll have less to spend, because your money won't outpace inflation.

Even now, in a volatile market, you'll want to stay invested in equities to some degree.

Sure, it's unnerving especially for Millennial and Gen Z investors whose introduction to the market was a 10-year bull run. "The best course of action is to ride through the storm," Loewengart said, "not to get out of the boat."

As great as it is not to pay taxes right away, you may not want all your invested savings to be tax-deferred.

"The biggest omission, is that if you pay the tax andsave [for retirement] in a Roth option, not only is the money you save tax-free, all the growth is tax-free," Fisher said.

If a 35-year-old saves $10,000 a year and retires at 65, that account will be closer to $1 million with compounding, Fisher says. An upfront tax deduction saves paying tax on $300,000 but when investing through a Roth 401(k), the entire million is tax-free.

People like the tax deduction today, but there could be a much bigger payoff tomorrow.

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Common investing mistakes that will make you say 'D'oh!' - CNBC

People around the world are turning to fan-favorite games like Assassins Creed and Prince of Persia to pass the time during lockdown, firmly placing gaming companies in the buy column for some of the worlds most well-known fund managers.

Investment trust managers in the U.K. are tipping the industry as coronavirus-proof, as video games easily continue sales in this new reality that has negatively impacted other forms of entertainment, such as cinema and theater.

The total U.K. video games market, including buying software, consoles and online gaming, hit 5.35bn last year, according to figures published last week by the Association for U.K. Interactive Entertainment.

In the U.S., spending on video games in March rose 35% year-on-year to $1.6bn, while all video game categories experienced double-digit sales increases over the month, according to market research company The NPD Group.

NPD, which tracks U.S. consumer spending on video games, said last week that Animal Crossing - Nintendos latest release for its Switch console had taken the top spot as the best-selling title in March, beating 2019s most popular game, Activision Blizzards ATVI, +1.55% Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

Investment trust managers have argued that the gaming industry still has significant room to grow and with many of the stocks viewed as undervalued, they are seizing the opportunity to invest.

Speaking to trade body, The Association of Investment Companies, here is what they said:

Walter Price, Portfolio Manager of Allianz Technology: We think this is an undervalued part of technology and we like all the stocks to varying degrees. The event of Covid-19 has emphasised to some very powerful tech companies the value of diversified revenue streams and we think the game companies are undervalued relative to their diversification value.

Paul Johnson, Gaming Analyst for Polar Capital Technology Trust: We hold a position in Microsoft MSFT, -2.58% as well as several video game publishers which stand to benefit. We believe that higher engagement will translate into higher monetization and the early signs are promising if third-party transaction data aggregators are to be believed. Given shelter-in-place orders, we also anticipate an inflection in digital downloads which have better economics for Microsoft and the publishers than physical sales.

Harry Nimmo, Manager of Standard Life UK Smaller Companies Trust: There are now a good handful of video game-exposed companies listed in the U.K., but we believe Team17 TM17, -2.99% is one of the lower-risk models. They are a developer, but focused on lower-budget indie games, and work with a lot of third-party developers where they have a revenue share model. This means that there is very low capital at risk from the success or not of a particular game, with game budgets typically under 1 million. Team17s revenue stream is very diversified, and there is still significant revenue driven by back catalogue titles they were the creators of Worms for example where they continue to innovate on successful brands.

Alexander Windsor-Clive, Analyst for Lindsell Train Investment Trust: We believe that Nintendo NTDOY, +1.78% will continue to flourish in the long term, driven both by trends in the industry and the enduring resonance of its ubiquitous intellectual property, which has entertained quite literally hundreds of millions of people across the world over a multi-decade period. Companies like Nintendo with dominant intellectual property are best placed to capitalise on the digital shift and future innovations in the sector. Developments in cloud gaming, virtual reality, augmented reality and esports are still nascent but have the potential to fundamentally reshape the industry.

Joe Bauernfreund, Investment Manager of AVI Global: We view Sonys gaming segment as one of the four crown jewels of the empire, with the other three being semiconductors, music, and pictures. The heart of our investment thesis for Sony SNE, -2.36% is that the complex conglomerate structure serves to mask the value of the separate underlying businesses, each of which are highly attractive in their own right.

Greg Herr, Co-Portfolio Manager of Alliance Trust: With new markets opening up across the world, and the proliferation of mobile devices, we believe the scope for expansion within the video gaming sector is substantial. In the current environment, with millions of people across the globe confined to their homes in the battle against COVID-19, the scope for increasing use of video gaming is huge.

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Gaming companies are looking like a coronavirus-proof investment. Here are the stocks to play, top fund managers say - MarketWatch

A variety of databases are offering free access through the Jefferson Parish Library during the pandemic.

KANOPY: A database of movies, documentaries and other video content, is offering an array of titles free to libraries until May 31. Library patrons may enjoy a special collection of titles, as well as all of Kanopy Kids, with no play credits deducted. Kanopy can be accessed under the digital content tab on the JPL website.

Kanopy also is offering free and unlimited access to the Infectious Diseases collection from The Great Courses. Throughout these 24 free video lectures, Dr. Barry Fox delivers clear and up-to-date information on dozens of infectious diseases from where they originate, to how they spread, to how we can overcome their devastating effects.

Patrons can arm themselves with scientific facts about bacterial infections, viruses, vaccines and more in this engaging course by an award-winning professor and physician. This offering is available now through May 31.

MORNINGSTAR: Many investors are turning to Morningstar Investment Research Center to stay updated about what is going on with the stock market. Patrons can access Morningstars daily coverage under the Articles & Video tab on the database.

Morningstar also offers a free financial education webinar: Navigating Investing During Novel Coronavirus: Investor Education & Guidance with Karen Wallace, director of investor education at Morningstar, and Joe Saari, head of product at Financial Fitness Group, in a webinar on financial education.

They say, When the markets are diving, and our health is at risk, fear can take over. To stay calm and focused on the long-term, were going back to basics and stressing strong financial education and fitness.

Other suggestions (patrons need to be logged into the database to access):

FOR THE KIDS: TumbleBooks, a provider of online childrens book databases, announced that it is making its family of online libraries available for free to the Jefferson Parish Library until at least Aug. 31.

Its flagship product, TumbleBook Library, is a collection of animated talking picture books, read-alongs, e-books, quizzes, lesson plans and educational games used by thousands of schools and public libraries in more than 100 countries.

The collection includes TumbleBookLibrary K-5; TumbleMath K-5; TeenBookCloud 5-12; AudioBookCloud teen/adult and RomanceBookCloud adult.

TumbleBooks can be accessed by patrons from their homes. The sites are easy to use, and access is unlimited. They can all be accessed on the Databases tab of the JPL website.

TUTORING: Tutor.com has expanded its live tutoring hours to provide additional support for students in communities impacted by COVID-19.

The new one-to-one live tutoring hours are 8 a.m. to midnight Monday through Friday. Saturday and Sunday live tutoring hours will continue at 2 p.m. to midnight as usual. These expanded hours will continue until May 31.

The Tutor.com/HomeworkLA landing page is http://www.homeworkla.org/.

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Free databases offer movies, math, investing and more through Jefferson Library - NOLA.com

Personal Finance Insider writes about products, strategies, and tips to help you make smart decisions with your money. We may receive a small commission from our partners, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

Everyone has a unique idea of what their ideal retirement should look like. I'm looking forward to a time when work is optional and I have a reliable cash flow coming from several sources. One important income source I plan to have for the future is real estate.

I've come across many wealthy and successful people in my life, and one place that I've seen success time and again is in real estate. I've known people who were secret real estate millionaires with a portfolio of rental houses and apartments.

Based on everything I've learned from them and my own experiences in real estate, here's my long-term plan for adding real estate to my retirement.

Many people start investing for the first time with a 401(k) plan or similar employer-sponsored retirement account at work. Employer and other investment accounts give you access to a wide range of stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, bonds, and other investments.

Because most people don't start out with enough cash to buy a multi-unit building but can afford to buy a stock or fund, REITs, real estate investment trusts, are a way to invest in real estate without buying the whole thing.

REITs are companies that manage real estate and are required to pay out a certain portion of profits as dividends. That makes them ideal for generating cash flow for retirement. Popular REITs include property management, self-storage, retirement homes, golf courses, and other real estate.

Simon Property Group and Public Storage are among the largest and most recognizable REITs. You can also buy REIT mutual funds and ETFs through fund managers like Vanguard, Schwab, Fidelity, BlackRock, State Street, and others. If you already have a brokerage account, you can quickly and easily buy an REIT today.

I have REITs in both my retirement and taxable investment accounts and plan to add more as my retirement accounts grow in the future.

Just last month, I took the next step in my real estate investment journey with Fundrise. I opened an account with a $1,000 starting investment to test the waters. While REIT investing is a great way to get exposure to a very diverse set of properties, they can feel very removed from the properties. Fundrise brings me one step closer.

Fundrise and other real estate financial technology companies allow you to invest in smaller real estate funds with more direct exposure to the end properties. For example, Simon Property Group owns more than 200 properties. Public Storage operates more than 2,000 locations. My investment at Fundrise went to about 25 properties owned by four different Fundrise funds, called eREITs.

I can log into my account and view details about each property including the location, type of investment, and projected return. While Fundrise takes out a management fee, average recent returns for the last six years have ranged from around 9% to 12%.

Assuming all goes well with my first $1,000, I plan to add more in the future. Funds here are focused on income, growth, balanced, or region-centric investments. You can start with $500. Fees are 1% per year.

To me, the Holy Grail of real estate investing is passive, buy-and-hold properties. Most people I've met with serious wealth own a portfolio of rental houses, apartments, condos, and even commercial properties. I'm personally most interested in residential multi-unit real estate.

But while I can buy shares of a REIT for under $100 and start with Fundrise at $500, it takes a lot more to get going with your own investment properties. However, if you have enough cash to buy individual properties and they are managed well, real estate can provide a predictable income stream that supports your family's needs. And, unlike a job, you don't have to show up every day to get paid.

My wife and I are saving up a down payment for our first rental property. Because these take tens of thousands of dollars to start, if not more, it may be awhile before we pull the trigger for the first time. But it's certainly a part of my retirement strategy.

In retirement, I'm looking forward to income from Social Security, my retirement fund investments, and real estate. But while Social Security has limited potential, there's no cap on what I can make from real estate and other investments.

If you play your cards right, you can even retire early with real estate. Because most people invest in real estate outside of their retirement accounts, they can start earning income from those properties right away.

For now, I'm in saving, investing, and building mode for my real estate portfolio. But it's a big part of my long-term retirement plans.

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Why I'm investing in real estate to fund my retirement - Business Insider

General News of Friday, 1 May 2020

Source: http://www.ghanaweb.com

Health minister, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu

Data intercepted by ghanaweb.com has revealed the government of Nana Akufo-Addo has invested more in health infrastructure across the country than it has been given credit for.

In the last couple of days, the president has been accused of now realising the importance of investing in health infrastructure after he announced plans to construct 88 hospitals in the districts without hospitals as legacy projects of the coronavirus.

However, from the data sighted (inserted in story), it appears some investment had already been done in the health sector.

Data obtained by ghanaweb shows the government's massive health infrastructure investments, numbering 654 projects, are located across all sixteen regions of the country in various districts.

The 654 projects, mainly construction of new health facilities and chip compounds, expansion and rehabilitation of existing facilities, provision of modern health equipment, etc., are concentrated in deprived communities to improve access to healthcare.

Regional distribution of completed projects

Out of the 654 health infrastructure projects, 339 have been completed and they are spread across all sixteen regions of the country.

The Ahafo Region has 12 projects completed, Ashanti Region has 46 projects, Bono Region 28 projects , Bono East 9 projects, Central Region 34 and Eastern Region has 41 projects completed.

Others are: Greater Accra 14, North East Region 6, Northern Region 39, Oti Region 11 and Savanna Region 20.

The rest are: Upper East, 19, Upper West 35, Volta Region 19, Western Region 5 and Western North Region 8 projects completed.

Regional distribution of on-going projects

The remaining projects out of the 654 are ongoing projects which are also spread throughout the sixteen regions as follows:

Ahafo Region 6, Ashanti Region 47, Bono Region 25, Bono East Region 8, Central Region 23 and Eastern Region 45 projects.

Others are: Greater Accra 12, North East Region 5, Northern Region 49, Oti Region 5 and Savannah Region 13.

The rest are: Upper East Region 17, Upper West Region 16, Volta Region 13, Western Region 23 and Western North Region 15.

Inherited projects

The document also revealed that contrary to claims, the Akufo-Addo government has also invested in about 30 health projects it inherited from the previous government in 2017.

About 16 of such projects in the Central, Greater Accra, Upper West and Northern Regions have been completed.

While 11 of such projects are on-going, three of the projects have been re-awarded to a contractor.

Meanwhile, the document, which Health Minister Kweku Agyemang Manu read aspects of it during his press conference earlier in the week, also captures the massive investment the government has made in procuring 320 ambulances nationwide.

Below is the full list of the 649 health projects and their locations, as well as the 30 inherited projects.

Send your news stories to and via WhatsApp on +233 55 2699 625.

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Data reveals massive nationwide investment in health infrastructure by Akufo-Addo - GhanaWeb