Beardstown Ladies Author Second Book Tips Suggest Ways Spenders Can Become Savers

They’re baaaack.

All fifteen of them.

And in case you didn’t learn about the Beardstown Ladies the first go round - they are the financially savvy investment club featured in the national bestseller “The Beardstown Ladies’ Common-Sense Investment Guide” - you just might hear about them this time.

The women, who hail from Beardstown, Ill., population just under 6,000, have spun more of their straightforward financial advice and folksy attitude adjustments into a new book, “The Beardstown Ladies’ Stitch-In-Time Guide To Growing Your Nest Egg.”

Using the same patient, turtle-beats-the-hare philosophy that built their club portfolio to about $200,000, they turn their attention to helping spenders become savers.

“You see more and more people living paycheck to paycheck,” said group member Ann Brewer, 61. “It’s scary.”

Fellow member Carnell Korsmeyer, 68, said saving for the future should be a continuous goal, whether you are a twentysomething or a senior already enjoying retirement.

Although much of their second book addresses retirement, readers who need to save cash to buy a home or pay their children’s college bills can also benefit.

The Beardstown Ladies describe a new rendition of the Three R’s in their latest book; instead of reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic, they discuss “risk, reward and return.”

“We wanted to address those and the correlation of them to thinking ahead for retirement and saving,” Korsmeyer said.

Just as their first book includes some of the club member’s recipes and homespun credos on life, their newest release also features one of Brewer’s favorites, “Aunt Ruby’s Salad.”

So far, the club’s book-writing ventures - the first sold more than 300,000 copies and was on the New York Times bestseller list for nearly three months - have not brought in more profits than the investment club, but Korsmeyer added, with cautious optimism, “it’s hard to tell with the second book.”

One thing for sure, life in Beardstown has certainly changed.

Right below, “Site of Lincoln’s Almanac Trial,” the newest sign outside town proclaims: “Home of Beardstown Ladies.”