For America: Be an Active Stockholder-Personal Finance

For America: Be an Active Stockholder

Often, it seems a day doesn't go by without troublesome tidings about some major U.S. corporation.

At worst, it's news of major fraud being discovered or wending its way through the courts. Then there are the reports of layoffs, of work being transferred overseas, of retirement benefits being slashed. Okay, you think, they're doing what they need to in order to stay healthy. But then you suddenly hear that salaries for top executives have jumped. It makes most Americans furious.

What we don't realize is that many of us need to take partial responsibility for how our corporations behave. That's right. When people purchase shares in a company, they have rights and duties not unlike the rights and duties we all have to our country. What a citizen is to a nation, a stockholder is to a company.

Once a year, for example, via an impartial election, you help to choose new corporate directors and make decisions about how the company is run. At annual shareholder meetings, you can ask questions about corporate strategy and challenge policies or executive pay. Plus, several times a year, shareholders receive official reports on all aspects of the company's Business.

In other words, stockholders have the tools to change the leaders and operations of U.S. corporations. Just like being an active citizen of a country, being a shareholder of a company obliges you to be a participant. The price of passivity, after all, is too high: With out-of-control fraud, waste, and ineffective management, unethical corporations can put thousands of people into financial turmoil.

So vote each year when you get your proxy. E-mail questions that you'd like answered at the annual shareholder meeting as well as any questions or concerns you have as news emerges in the Business world. Read all of the materials you are sent, such as the annual report and proxy, and share your responses with the company -- and if you wish, with other large shareholders.

Let the corporate world know that you own a piece of the pie and that you are watching, that you expect integrity and openness, and that in return, you will give your loyalty and support -- and continued investment dollars. Check out CorpWatch.org to find out more about keeping corporations honest and accountable.

【与好友分享本文】【Forum】【加入收藏】【WAP】【Print】【Dict】