The Corruption of Financial Planning Services

Who do we believe when it comes to finances?  The government says one thing, parents and family say another, friends say another and television says another.  The messages are completely different and no one knows what to believe.  It is scary and most people would like to just put their money somewhere and not have to think about it ever again until they retire and then be rich.  The problem is that this model does not work anymore.  We are in a complete different world and economy and the world is not what it use to be.  There has been corruption within the financial planning industry for some time and if most people knew the truth they would keep their money away.  The corruption has occurred because of ignorance and greed.  Companies will pull a quick one so they can still look good and their investors will have confidence in them.  Careful...most all businesses move money in the interest of making a profit not in the interest of the people.  This includes your financial advisor and what has led to the corruption that the world is slowly waking up to  Here it is in the raw....many will not like it but it is what is happening in our world today.

Eighty percent...yes I said that right, 80% of financial planners do not invest in what they advise their clients to do. This is why so many people lost money in the 2008 crash. I met the top financial planner in LA, Mark Rothstein. He has 4000 clients and not a one lost money in the 2008 crash. You know why? because he put his clients money the same place he put his. Most financial planners will put their clients money in a fund that was advised to them by their company. The company advises this fund because the people that run the fund convinced them that it will make a return. If they don’t make the return they promised guess what happens....nothing. The big financial institutions have one thing on their mind....profit....not your profit, but theirs. This is why they tell to you invest when the market is high and invest why the market is low. All they care about is getting your portfolio with them larger so their portfolio will be larger.

Financial planners live in a box and most of them do not know they are in a box.  The box that they live in is a box created by their employers.  They tell you that they are in the know with investing, what they do not even know themselves is that they are limited to what they can invest in.  They can only invest in specific things due to the law and many will not tell you that you can invest your retirement in other asset classes because many do not know and the others won’t tell you because they will loose the money from you commission.  I have a dear friend that went to the manager of her IRA.  She said she wanted to invest her IRA into real estate and he laughed at her.  Most financial planners will do this also.  They will say that you cannot invest you IRA into other asset classes beside the stocks and funds that they offer.  What they mean is that THEY CANNOT invest your money into other assets classes, but you can.  Financial planners always ask to see your financial statements.  Ask to see theirs. If you find a financial planner that will, then you know you have one you can trust.

Remember it is ignorance that will separate you from where you are and your financial freedom.  It is up to you to find a solution and not up to your financial planner.  There is mass corruption in the financial world today and the only one that will save your financial future is yourself.