"Why I Fired My Broker" Atlantic article worth the read

[DeschutesRiver]

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200905/goldberg-economy

I don't know how it will strike anyone else here, but there were many parts of it that I could totally identify with, having had similar thoughts and actions in my past too - and while I'd like to think I know better now, re issues of trust and gaining knowledge myself re finances so that I can evaluate the worth and wisdom of the advice I receive, I also know that but for me waking up on the right morning, accidently happening across the right forum at the right time, spending almost a solid week catching up on financial matters.....but for that, I wouldn't have made the immediate moves that resulted in me and dh only losing a smidgen of my retirement at that moment, not 50% or better, and now making just a smidgen.

My brokers at the time were having none of it; some were churlish, and when I had dh put his $$ into safe vehicles, it so pissed off his broker that he told dh "this isn't your wife's IRA, so you don't have to listen to her advice". Given what what the broker was advising to put it into at that moment, we've have lost a huge portion of that IRA, and instead dh at least has his investment intact and therefore all of it earning something, albeit a "reduced" something. Nobody should be advising us in this way when we are so near retirement, nor esp. berating us for trying to step back from the market until things stabilized, and definitely not the damned broker holding these investments. A broker doesn't have to worry about clients who just want to buy a fucking CD or a T-bill as a safe haven getting in over their heads.

Sorry for the rant, but enjoy the article!

[phantom power]

1. I've had friends and relatives tell me broker stories like that.

It amazes me, the unqualified rubes and con-artists that are out there "managing" investments for people.

[Hello_Kitty]

2. It's the fault of the companies that hire them

Most so-called "financial services" firms are little more than glorified sales mills. People are hired for their ability to sell, not their financial acumen. Believe me, I did it (disastrously) for a short time. I was rushed through training on products that I barely understood and told to go out and get clients. I didn't know what the fuck I was doing and I wasn't comfortable so I quit.

[phantom power]

4. Some seem to be independents too...

Last year my dad in law's broker was advising him to put 80K into a single stock. I don't remember the stock, and it really doesn't matter. He's about 2 years from retirement, and this guy is telling him to stick a huge chunk of money in stock? And a single stock?

Now, fortunately my FIL was smart enough to not take that advice, but if any "adviser" gave me advice that bad, it would be the last damn time they ever advised me. I told him he really ought to fire that guy and find somebody who knows what the fuck they're doing, but for some reason he sticks with him. I worry about what other investments that jackass might have convinced him to make that could lose him a lot of money right when he's going to need it.

[Mopar151]

3. Wait 'til you hear the estate and trust stories

And the investment adviser stories.

For far too long, the well-connected white collar criminal has had a license to steal, and thick cover for incompetence. Some of these jerks have the morals of a carnival pickpocket, but they will report you to the management for failing to fawn over their phony ass