Have you noticed the discount brokerage firms from before
the meltdown are now in the financial advice business?
It makes sense.
Those firms know exactly how well or badly their clients
did. Ten years of trading hot-tips at
eight bucks a pop didn’t work for everybody.
Either you help them pick-up the pieces or someone else will.
I don’t know if this is an opportunity for me. We haven’t seen a lot of do-it-yourself
investors over the years.
The ones who figured it out don’t need my help.
The ones who didn’t figure it out would rather show me a
prickly rash than their portfolio. It’s
hard.
When they do show me (their
portfolio, that is), it’s usually because she decided they are not going
down with the ship.
Bottom-line; a lot of people never developed the skills and
confidence to manage their own investments.
There must be millions of them for the discounters to completely retool
their marketing and operations from trading to advice (well, robo-advice, that’s another
can of worms in a previous blog).
If you are in that leaky boat, look for an experienced
advisor – someone you can look in the eye.
Talk goals first, investments second.
If he starts with investments, keep looking. When you get to your investments, relax – we’ve
seen worse portfolios than yours.
I’d steer clear of junior 800-number advisors. This is a tough business with a wicked
learning-curve.
Find someone who always
knew you needed help.
Ask a friend who she uses.
You can call me. Do your
homework.
For heaven’s sake, pay for the quality your family
deserves.
Good luck. sh
PS: Please forward
this to recovering traders you love.
They will thank you someday.
sh