The truth about the financial advice industry - and it isn't pretty.
About Me:
Anniebird
A few years ago, I retired early from a large corporation. I had significant money in my 401k simply because my company stock had done well. I knew nothing at all about proper investing principles. I decided to hire a 'professional' to handle my money.
I interviewed Financial Advisors and also did some basic research about investing. My basic research sent up red flags about things Financial Advisors were telling me. None of them suggested any index funds and if I asked about them, the advisors ‘advised’ against them. None stressed the importance of keeping costs low. And when I figured out their approximate costs to me (no easy task!), they were all very expensive.
I was fast losing trust in ‘professionals’ and I had no trust in myself. I just wanted someone to take care of me! Things went from bad to worse. I knew that I needed to reinvest my money, but I was paralyzed. There was too much to learn, I had no self-confidence, none of the advisors seemed right and I was afraid to make any decision at all.
I kept researching and interviewing Financial Advisors and slowly something wonderful started to happen – I started to ‘get it’. I saw that I was making things much more complicated than they needed to be. What seemed unknowable before became both knowable and fascinating. I set up a diversified, low-cost portfolio of mainly index funds and the cost per year for my fees is under .20%. I am saving literally hundreds of thousands of dollars over time by doing my own investing and I am very happy with my returns. I spend less than 8 hours a year on my investments.
Chapter Two - Helping Others
After I started doing my own investing, I wondered: Were my friends and family in expensive, poor performing funds? Did they understand any of what I had learned? I asked about their investments and sadly, I learned what was being done to them.
After finding out how much they were paying and what kind of service they were getting, my friends and family were no longer interested in continuing a relationship with their ‘advisor’. I gave them information and support and they would start out just like I had…scared and ignorant. But that doesn’t last long. People can learn. Knowledge is power.
I help people by simply telling them the truth and giving them information and resources. It's that simple. That's what this blog is about. I do not tell people what to invest in. I can’t think or act for others. Part of what I am about is self-responsibility.