Investing for the long haul.

When you read through this month's issue of BLACK ENTERPRISE, you will probably notice a common thread that runs through our money management package. It's a simple message: investing for the purpose of creating multigenerational wealth means investing for the long haul. If you want to create enough wealth to pass on to your children, then you have to invest in financial vehicles that produce long-term value. We want our readers to have a basic, solid foundation for building wealth, and we believe we've provided that in this issue by examining investment vehicles that do well over time. We can't stress enough the directive that investing is a long-term commitment. Very few of us will ever be lucky enough to hit the lottery and get rich overnight. For most of us, engaging in smart investing that offers a solid return is about adopting a steady, committed strategy and sticking to it for an entire lifetime. Smart investing is about choosing the right investment vehicles, and this month, BE helps you identify them.

In our Mutual Fund Overview, we examine 100 funds that have performed well over the past five years (see "Long-Distance Funds," this issue). Our roundtable discussion with some of today's successful money managers offers effective strategies that will help you develop solid investment behavior and names specific stocks and bonds that our experts anticipate will perform well (see "Investing for Your Security," this issue).

While stocks, bonds, and mutual funds might be the general focus of investing, our cover subjects, Lybroan and Gina James, demonstrate that real estate can be an equally stable source of wealth. The Jameses don't dabble in stocks outside of the couple's 401(k) plan, but the couple has made more than $200,000 from real estate sales over the past two years. They recognize real estate is a sound, long-term investment that accumulates value over time and creates a solid foundation that will benefit both of their young children down the line.

"Proper investing requires education and planning, and those Americans who understand the principles of investing will be better off financially in the future," explains Personal Finance Editor Matthew S. Scott, who oversaw the development of this month's money management package. "In the years to come, the importance of learning to properly invest will be crucial to protecting your financial future and ensuring that you have enough money when it's time to retire."

One effective long-term investment strategy is dollar cost averaging, where individuals purchase stock at regular intervals (for example, every pay period). Since you're buying the same dollar amount of stock each period, more shares are bought when the share price is low and less shares are purchased when it is high. The theory is that over time, you end up paying less for a stock while reaping the benefits of its appreciation in value.

Proper investing should always be considered a marathon--not a sprint. So don't expect to invest in any one stock for the purposes of getting rich quickly and retiring young. For most of us, it doesn't work that way. It's about investing consistently and over time because wealth building is a long-term deal. Remember, we're talking about building wealth that lasts, not just making a quick buck.

--The Editors