Do you have a financial planner? Does one of your friends have a financial planner? Maybe you take your advice from your broker. As I have said countless times before a broker will make you broker. And a financial planner won't do any better. I know. You thought they would.
Let's look at the real reason investors choose to take advice from these so called "experts". Once they get you into their office or sitting with you at the dining room table or kitchen table you are doomed. Mr. F.P. has come prepared with beautiful slick color brochures and will have a presentation that will utterly confuse, bedazzle and befuddle. You will sit there and be afraid to ask a question because you know it is so dumb. You can't say 'no' or you will be admitting how dumb you are. And he knows that.
It is not that he is a liar. (I hope.) It is that all financial planners and brokers are taught the Wall Street method of "making money". Unfortunately it doesn't work.
The basic things that have been pounded into their heads are false. Let's look at the big three: Do Research, Dollar Cost Average and Buy and Hold. There are others, but these you will hear from every broker and financial planner because that is what the big brokerage companies and mutual fund families want. They want your money and they want to keep it even when the stocks or funds you own go down. In fact, buy some more.
Research is like blowing in the wind. You will be inundated with green sheets, blue sheets, red sheets, slick full color glossies, videos, etc., etc. Think about this. If you can obtain this information then so can everyone else. Everything that is known about a particular stock is reflected in the last price. Morningstar will sell you a beautiful package about a company, but it is worthless. What you really want to know is will it go up after I buy it?
Of course, if it goes down you will be encouraged to buy more to average out your price so that when it heads up again you will make a fortune. Yes, and pigs can fly.
If it does go down your advisor may say to hold on as the market always comes back. He doesn't tell you it may take 20 years or that the company might go out of business. Buy and Hold is the greatest myth of Wall Street. No one ever tells you to sell. Have you been told you don't have a loss until you take it? Please!
You got that advisor because you have not admitted to your self that you cannot pull the trigger. When you have a stock or fund that is falling you don't want to sell. You have to take charge of your money. Just you.
When you look back at the performance of most financial planners from 2000 to 2003 you know you can do a better job. Always ask to see what they did then. If they lost money you don't want them. Don't let them compare their performance to the S&P500. That's smoke and mirrors.
You can do better. Just do it.
Al Thomas' book, "If It Doesn't Go Up, Don't Buy It!" has helped thousands of people make money and keep their profits with his simple 2-step method. Read the first chapter at http://www.mutualfundmagic.com and discover why he's the man that Wall Street does not want you to know.
Copyright 2005
taxi o'hare Wisconsin Dells ..Before they go over the cliff to their destruction these... Read More
Where is the beef? Or maybe it should be where... Read More
Investors who exclusively use broadly diversified, no load mutual funds... Read More
Index Fund Trading can be one of the most profitable...or... Read More
If you don't know what a Roth IRA is then... Read More
When is a dividend not a dividend?The latest thing "conservative"... Read More
Financial markets provide their participants with the most favorable conditions... Read More
There are many good penny stock investments available, which could... Read More
Hello Inflation, it has been awhile, I see you on... Read More
When is a dividend not a dividend?The latest thing "conservative"... Read More
What does it take to be a stock trader? It... Read More
"If you don't know where you are going, any road... Read More
A few years back ? it seems like an eternity... Read More
Every Wall Street analyst, financial planner and broker will tell... Read More
Today's society gives special recognition to alcoholics, sexaholics, binge-aholics, shopaholics,... Read More
A common problem I often see when working with living... Read More
Profitable day traders recognize that momentum trading is among the... Read More
The demand for world oil is increasing while world reserves... Read More
You'd have had to be living on a desert island... Read More
As one of my regular readers you know I have... Read More
You remember (they show it on TV every year) the... Read More
Let's first define insanity. It is doing the same thing... Read More
What does it mean to short a stock?This means that... Read More
Mutual funds by definition are a mixed bag of stocks,... Read More
Mutual funds and brokers are always preaching not to buy... Read More
bmw rental chicago Ackley ..We all know that emotions control every decision that an... Read More
Reach in your pocket and take out that big roll... Read More
You should ignore analysts on TV, the radio, the newspaper... Read More
Let's hope you did not have any of the Enron... Read More
Today's society gives special recognition to alcoholics, sexaholics, binge-aholics, shopaholics,... Read More
A few years back ? it seems like an eternity... Read More
Are you paying any attention to your retirement savings? Do... Read More
Let's first define insanity. It is doing the same thing... Read More
In 1960 an engineer working for a watch company in... Read More
Time to look back2004 is over, now we are in... Read More
The stock market has been in an up trend for... Read More
How many people went to a cash position this week?... Read More
When it comes to buying a stock or mutual fund... Read More
You remember (they show it on TV every year) the... Read More
Four blind men were asked to give a description of... Read More
A 'stock option' is a contract between two parties giving... Read More
From the book 'The Stockopoly Plan' by the author Charles... Read More
With the internet such a huge part of our daily... Read More
As the man said, "I've got some good news and... Read More
When will the stock market stop going down and start... Read More
Picking a beaten-down stock requires a different kind of selection... Read More
The trading method you employ to approach the stock market... Read More
Several times each month I am solicited by various market... Read More
The stock market has been going up for more than... Read More
I'll bet with almost anyone that has stocks or mutual... Read More
Stocks & Mutual Fund |