Individual Investors Plan to Keep Buying

Almost nine of 10 U.S. individual investors plan to invest as much or more money next year as they did this year, a new poll found.

The poll, conducted by RoperASW for Mutual Funds magazine, found that 88% of the 675 investors surveyed plan to invest as much or more money in 2002, and less than one in 10 would sell stocks if the markets declined further.

The survey, taken in mid-October to gauge investors’ reactions about the economy after the terrorist attacks, found that more than half expect the economy to recover late next year or in 2003. Almost a third of investors said they would consider buying war bonds. Treasury Secretary Paul H. O’Neill is expected to introduce so-called patriot bonds this week.

The telephone poll, which surveyed investors age 18 or older, was conducted Oct. 19 to Oct. 21, and has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points. Mutual Funds magazine is a unit of AOL Time Warner Inc.