I just finished reading an article in Forbes Magazine about the glut of people who call themselves financial planners. Most financial planners make their money by actually selling you products and earning commissions by buying and selling stocks in your portfolio. There are also financial planners who charge a fixed price.
If you consider the recent Madoff scandal with celebrities, multi-millionaires and even billionaires losing large portions of their fortunes, who can you trust? Most people feel they do not have the financial know how to make investment decisions or the time to devote to this and they look to so called experts to handle their hard earned money.
I could never understand how recent college graduates from prestigious schools would get high paying jobs on Wall Street making investment decisions. They made six and seven figure incomes even if the investments they recommended lost money for their investors.
My take on this: a scam! Sounds harsh! What do all the pundits say: Invest for the long haul: 20-40 years. What if you’re at the end of 40 years and everything gets wiped out? What then?
Even the big wigs in this industry don’t even beat the market most of the time. I personally have lost faith in the stock market. I still have money in a 401K and I will keep it there but I am not putting any more money in the market. That is my personal decision. Feel free to disagree.
I have found that I am more comfortable with a conservative view and I know that there is no get rich quick scheme. So what do we do with our money? I have most of my money at this time in CD’s that are staggered and have different maturity dates and rates of interest. I am also looking into real estate in prime markets that are underpriced. I am not looking for fixer uppers but solid real estate that is on the market at a good price.
Yes, real estate goes up and down but at least you still have the real estate in the long run and it does not evaporate into thin air.
I have one area where I have never lost money and I can sleep well at night knowing that my money continues to work for me at all times. I invest heavily in God’s Kingdom! The returns are multi-dimensional and God is the best investor in the business!
This goes well beyond the tithe (This is another topic in itself and I will not elaborate on this). When you really do not know what to do with your money, invest it with God. You will never go wrong and you will never lack!
Jacques
CreatingWealthThatLasts
4 comments:
the 'advisors are a scam' gripe has its roots in the animosity towards wall street (as a concept) that is constant for some, periodically inflated for most. what's lost in the smokescreen, in my opinion, is that the industry isn't set up to scam the little guy. it's not set up to let thousands of people who choose it for their pursuit to head out into the world with tools to scam people.
it's set up to help people navigate a very complicated financial world. a lot of the people who take financial planning to be their vocation really, really want to help people make good decisions.
Interesting article. Just goes to show that in reality, no one can be trusted when it comes to monetary funds.
D: Thanks for your comments. Your probably right. Most of the financial planners are probably trying to help people!
Hi Jacques .. it's a minefield out there .. finding out who you can trust ..
but also you have to be responsible yourself for your own assets & investments .. & understand the implications - most of us don't do this .. it's time to learn more.
Thanks for your post - Hilary
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