On Sun, 11 May 97 20:36:09 -0600, dpbrown wrote:

<<I am my father's guardian and conservator. He doesn't have much, less than $10K. But, I would like to invest what I could, to make sure that Social Security and his Navy pension will stretch.

My first question, how do I set up an account with a broker, so that it is in his name and using his SSN? Will I need to provide proof of conservatorship?

Second question, I would like to use the strategies here, but am unsure how to allocate his limited funds. He is 66 years old and will likely live into his eighties. Should I just invest in the Vangaurd Index Fund, or be more aggressive? >>

The broker will demand proof of some kind that you are the guardian/custodian. Accordingly, you will have to provide the court order or trust agreement or power of attorney that gives you the right to act in your grandfather's name.

Keep in mind you are in a fiduciary relationship here with all the responsibilities that entails. That means you must take greater care of that money and how it's invested than you do with your own. Typically, that will rule out using any of the Foolish strategies discussed here. First, they are not recognized in general as "accepted" methodologies for fiduciary's to use. Second, given your grandfather's age and financial condition, the courts and authorities may not take kindly to investments that have a lot of "risk," to include a stock index fund. That's particularly true if you intend to invest all $10K in stocks. A good rule of thumb to protect yourself from undue criticism and potential liability is to have only 25% to 40% invested in growth vehicles (i.e., stocks). The rest should be split between ultra-safe, interest earning money markets, bonds, cds, and the like. Nothing magic here -- or highly productive, either. But it will keep you out of trouble.

Regards.........Pixy