the financial industry is entirely against the true interests of the individual investor, and while the big institutions make billions, they do it on the back of the average person – who mistakenly thinks they’ll be taken care of. The whole commission structure, the biased research and advice .. it all makes me shudder.
It also provides a lot of the impetus to teach people about money, investing and building wealth.
Every time I see an ad on TV from a mutual fund or brokerage, I have to roll my eyes. At the end of the commercial, they invariably have some trite tagline that says something like “We care about you” or “Your future is important, and we’ll help protect it”.
I’ve ranted about the industry in past posts, so I’ll save it for now. I did, however, have to give credit to Altamira, one of the fund companies, for touching on a feeling that I think many baby boomers can relate with.
This ad campaign was on target, because I would guess a lot of people coming to retirement age see this ad, and it causes them to think hard about where they are, and where they’re going to be in the future.
Let me ask you a question at this point, regardless of where you are in your investment and wealth creation/protection cycle.
* * * What does YOUR future look like? * * *
Are you still chasing investments that are up and down like a roller coaster, or are you comfortable in knowing that you are invested in things you understand (notice that I said knowing, not thinking!)
Do you own mutual funds?
If so, what specifically do those funds invest in?
What M.E.R. do you pay on each one?
Do you KNOW what an M.E.R. is?
(if you don’t, refer back to one of my previous blog posts to read why I think mutual funds are a very dangerous investment vehicle..)
Do you own real estate?
If so, what are the economic fundamentals for the area?
Did the population increase or decrease last year?
By how much?
What’s the current median price in the area?
What was it last year?
Do you have a financial advisor?
If so, how much in total commissions and fees did they make from your account last year?
What was your net return on investment, after fees and costs?
Do you invest in RRSPs (in Canada) or IRAs (in the US)?
If so, what specifically are they invested in?
What bottom-line return did they generate for you last year?
How much contribution room do you have right now?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, but you couldn’t then answer all of the questions that followed immediately after, that means you don’t have enough information to be making informed, intelligent investment decisions.
YOU ARE AT TREMENDOUS RISK.
From the thousands of investors I’ve taught over the years, this lack of information or knowledge is the single most common reason that people end up broke, or do terribly in their investments.
DECIDE RIGHT NOW you are going to get the information you NEED to make smarter choices.
This is NOT an option.
It’s either you learn to get educated and KNOW the answers to the important questions .. or figure out what vest size you’ll be wearing at Wal-Mart or McDonald’s.
The choice is yours, but tomorrow is coming . . .
]]>