When you were a child, did someone in your family talk with you about investing in stocks? I remember a grade school substitute teacher of mine telling the class about how she received a gift of Coca-Cola stock from her grandfather. My teacher recounted that, as a teenager, she felt proud to own the company that made the drink her friends favored when they went out for burgers and fries. I recall her telling us how she held on to that stock “forever.” She also said that the value of the stock had grown more than her savings account.

I remember this teacher and her story, even though I was only 10 at the time.

As a longtime proponent of financial literacy education, when it comes to investing, I know that mentorship can be more important than a lesson plan.

That brings me to you.

In these uncertain times, wouldn’t it be nice to trigger a spark of interest in the young people in your life so that they can become investors? It doesn’t take much. It was the gift of stock that empowered my teacher to be a mentor. I heard her message and took it in. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one she influenced.

Since I make my living as a professional money manager, I don’t talk about stocks in my column unless there is a good reason for an exception and I provide a disclosure (I do own the stocks I’m mentioning in this column). Just be sure not to take this conversation as a recommendation to go out and buy any stocks I write about; pick stocks only with your financial adviser’s guidance, or, if you are a do-it-yourselfer, only after careful research.

To develop an interest and love of investing, the stock you pick for a child has to have two important characteristics: 1) The company’s products need to be recognizable by the child and 2) the company’s business needs to be sustainable, since you would want the child to have my teacher’s experience of holding on to it through good markets and bad -- that’s a lesson in itself considering where we are now, during the very volatile coronavirus pandemic market.

I’m sure you can think of a few stocks that fit the characteristics I mentioned. For example, if your kids light up when you suggest a visit to McDonald’s (MCD), consider that stock. If your child brushes his or her teeth with Crest toothpaste, consider Procter & Gamble (PG).

Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Procter & Gamble are components of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index, which includes stocks that have increased their dividends for the past 25 consecutive years and have capital appreciation potential.

Studies show that stocks with rising dividends outperform others over time -- with an emphasis on “over time.” The total return of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index (-23.3%) is lower for the first quarter of this year (2020) than the usually more volatile S&P 500 index (-19.6%). That can happen.

Start your research online at morningstar.com, a provider of independent investment research. Explore the AAII.com website. AAII (The Association of Individual Investors) is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to educate individual investors. At valueline.com, you’ll be able to explore stock research reports with a free trial.

You'll find all of the stocks chosen for the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index on the standardandpoors.com website at tinyurl.com/lxk9nxp. To see the actual stocks, you have to go to the S&P 500 Index on the site, click on “Additional Info,” then click on “Indicated Rate Change” to download the Aristocrats spreadsheet.

If you are hesitant to do stock research, mentor a child on how to put money to work with a stock index fund. The oldest index fund for individual investors is the Vanguard S&P 500 Index Fund (VFINX). You’ll want to research Vanguard’s website at www.vanguard.com. Vanguard is one of the world’s largest mutual-fund companies.

There is nothing better than a gift that educates or a story that inspires.

Julie Jason, JD, LLM, a personal money manager (Jackson, Grant Investment Advisers Inc. of Stamford, Connecticut) and award-winning author, welcomes your questions/comments (readers@juliejason.com). Please visit www.juliejason.com.

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It now seems like decades ago, but it has been only a matter of weeks since the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law (March 27). When we first talked about the act, legislators were hearing from small-business owners who were anxious about the future of their businesses -- and that’s what led Congress to set up the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Since then, the Small Business Administration (SBA) has processed more than 3.8 million loans, totaling more than half a trillion dollars of economic support.

Some of those businesses that received loans will be complying with rules allowing for forgiveness of up to 100% of the loan.

The rules are pretty rigid. According to the SBA, the loan proceeds must go to payroll costs, rent, utilities and interest on mortgages, with 75% of the forgiven amount having been used for payroll. In addition, the employer must be able to show that the business maintained or quickly rehired employees, maintaining salary levels. The amount of forgiveness will also depend on full-time headcount and salaries and wages; if those amounts decrease, forgiveness decreases.

Business owners are asking about what counts as “payroll costs.” The SBA issued guidance on that question and many others, which can be found at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/04/15/2020-07672/business-loan-program-temporary-changes-paycheck-protection-program.

The list of payroll costs includes: “compensation to employees (whose principal place of residence is the United States) in the form of salary, wages, commissions, or similar compensation; cash tips or the equivalent (based on employer records of past tips or, in the absence of such records, a reasonable, good-faith employer estimate of such tips); payment for vacation, parental, family, medical, or sick leave; allowance for separation or dismissal; payment for the provision of employee benefits consisting of group health care coverage, including insurance premiums, and retirement; payment of state and local taxes assessed on compensation of employees; and for an independent contractor or sole proprietor, wages, commissions, income, or net earnings from self-employment, or similar compensation.”

What’s excluded from the definition of payroll costs? The CARES Act excludes the following:

“i. Any compensation of an employee whose principal place of residence is outside of the United States;

“ii. The compensation of an individual employee in excess of an annual salary of $100,000, prorated as necessary;

“iii. Federal employment taxes imposed or withheld between February 15, 2020 and June 30, 2020, including the employee's and employer's share of FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) and Railroad Retirement Act taxes, and income taxes required to be withheld from employees; and

“iv. Qualified sick and family leave wages for which a credit is allowed under sections 7001 and 7003 of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (Pub. L. 116-127).”

So, understanding how the PPP loan can be used in order to qualify for forgiveness, like many other things, is a matter of following the rules.

Some new issues have arisen. According to a notice (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-20-32.pdf) issued last week, the IRS has concluded that business expenses paid for by a PPP loan that is forgiven cannot be deducted as business expenses. Sen. Ron Wyden called this a “gut punch” for businesses struggling to stay afloat.

In response, Sen. Marco Rubio, chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, joined by Sens. John Cornyn, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden, and Tom Carper, introduced new legislation (Small Business Expense Protection Act) to clarify that small businesses can deduct expenses paid with a forgiven PPP loan from their taxes.

“The congressional intent of the PPP program was to keep workers connected to their jobs and to ease the financial burden on small businesses so they could weather this pandemic,” Rubio said. “Borrowers should not be penalized by new taxes because they sought help during this unprecedented crisis.”

We’ll see whether the bill will be passed.

In the meantime, to keep current on developments, which I’m sure will be coming, check out the SBA’s website (www.sba.gov). If you have questions about a PPP loan that you have already received, I highly recommend contacting the Lender Relations Specialist in the local SBA Field Office. A list of offices can be found here: https://www.sba.gov/tools/local-assistance/districtoffices.

For a quick video that covers the topics we’ve discussed in today’s column, go to vimeo.com/416409979/98d2ad33d1.

Julie Jason, JD, LLM, a personal money manager (Jackson, Grant Investment Advisers Inc. of Stamford, Connecticut) and award-winning author, welcomes your questions/comments (readers@juliejason.com). Please visit www.juliejason.com.

DISTRIBUTED BY ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

Just a few months ago, we enjoyed a stock market that reached all-time highs on Feb. 19, 2020, when the S&P 500 index closed at 3,386.15.

Just six trading days later, we were in a correction (a decline of 10% or more).

What changed? Who can forget? An unexpected virus that was spreading fast and injecting great uncertainty into the financial markets. The markets do not like uncertainty.

While we did not know it at the time, a bear market (20% decline) was developing. By March 23, 2020, the S&P 500 index had fallen 34% to 2,237.40. Looking back from today, March 23 marked the current bottom. That’s the day the Federal Reserve announced asset purchases to ensure that financial markets would function properly.

Now (April 30), just 50 trading days after the peak, the S&P 500 is at 2,912.43, up 30% from March 23.

In the interim, we’ve seen some of the most volatile trading days in history.

Here are the worst and the best days so far this year.

Worst: 1) March 16 (down 12%), ranked the third worst in a list of 30. 2) March 12 (down 9.5%), ranked as the sixth worst decline. 3) March 9 (down 7.6%), the 19th worst.

Best: 1) March 24 (up 9.4%), ranked ninth best. 2) March 13 (up 9.3%), ranked 10th best. Then, another day in the top 30, April 6 (up 7%), which ranked 30th best.

To give you some perspective, since the 1920s, the worst one-day decline was Black Monday, Oct. 19, 1987 (down 20.5%). The second worst was Oct. 28, 1929 (down 12.3%), and the third was March 16, 2020 (down 12%).

The month of March 2020 made records: down 12.5% for the month, the 19th worst in history, according to Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist for CFRA. CFRA is one of the world’s largest independent research firms. Looking at the top 30 daily movers (up or down), March landed on the “worst” list three times and the “best” list twice.

April also made the record books. The month of April 2020 was the 12th best month, the strongest of any April since 1938.

Stovall explained: A positive performance in April is not surprising, however, since it is the best month of the year in terms of average price change since World War II and the second best in frequency of advance.

What’s next? “A continuation of the market’s climb is less certain, however, since May’s typical performance has been below average on a percentage change and frequency of advance,” said Stovall.

A bumpy ride may still be ahead. While it might be tempting to look to safety above all else in uncertain times, thinking long-term can benefit most investors. We don’t know yet if March 23 will be THE bottom for this coronavirus market. But we do know that long-term investors look to add to their portfolios when prices are lower.

Now is the time to prepare a buy list, if you haven’t done so already. Let me give you one resource now: The Outlook, published by CFRA Research. The Outlook is the oldest continuously published investment newsletter in the U.S. You can try it out for free here: https://advisor.marketscope.com/#/Outlook90.

We’ll talk more about other stock research tools, but I’d like to hear from you. What are your favorite sources for stock research? What questions do you have about investing during the Coronavirus market? Go to tinyurl.com/yaa399g7 to take a survey to let me know or write to me at readers@juliejason.com.

Julie Jason, JD, LLM, a personal money manager (Jackson, Grant Investment Advisers Inc. of Stamford, Connecticut) and award-winning author, welcomes your questions/comments (readers@juliejason.com). Please visit www.juliejason.com.

DISTRIBUTED BY ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION