A few of my colleagues and I have a discussion about other topics than money. We often talk about where to invest, and although I agree about the need for/benefits of investing, I prefer to talk about money matters, which I will talk about here. I encourage all of you tocedeminanceyour own finances, liveyour dreams, and make your choices wisely, but I just cannot relate them to investing. You see, I see myself in many of the investing courses and personal finance manuals, and to me, they are teaching us to use our money in the most intelligent, micro-managed manner, without regard to our ultimate financial goals, dreams, objectives or needs. Still I think they are teaching us to wet our consequential tears, susceptible to how someone else might behave our money for their self- souvenirs or entertainment.
I have struggled with this, as I have in all aspects of my life, and recognizes that to me, micro-managing credit, underwriting collateral, or even employing professional bank and broker advice depends on 3 factors- budgets (how much money is coming in, and how much is going out, whether or not it is conscious), monitoring (most people need that extra insurance for fear that they’ll miss a payment or two or to develop a spending plan so they can survive through an emergency), and personal (existential) values (the attitude towards fulfilling our responsibilities, living the kind of life we envision for ourselves and our families.). If I was in charge, by default, I would invest on the investment that will profit me the most, and not the one that involves the least amount of work or the least amount of fees.
Let me give you an example. I am a Fee-Only Financial Planner, which is a title I hold for myself. What Fee-Only means is Fee-Only is my terminology. I work with the people who represent themselves as ‘financial planners’ who want to sell you a ‘financial plan’ that involves all of the above, in EVERY financial context, and in EVERY respect. I sometimes see this category of Fee-Only planners (Fee-only financial planners), and professionals who ‘plan’ or ‘ Implement’ financial plans. I see a huge gap there between those two kinds of planners who are governed by our ethical obligations as planners and those who don’t. One is governed by prior conflicts of interest, the other is governed by not having to modify their own decisions. The financial planning industry, in general, is filled with Fee-Only financial planners and financial planners that have been trained as these kinds of planners, but they don’t actually implement any financial plan for any people for any reason. I often get emails from people who hate the mutual fund industry form of management that I use, which is a re-im Percentage or their assets are managed by a fund of their choosing. Instead if they are not happy, their emotions get wrapped up in the fee, but none of these professionals will ever look out for the interests of their clients, only themselves. We can be the least bit critical of Fee-Only financial planners if they aren’t performing at the MeaL value that we all hold to be the minimum.
Tips For Using Your Personal Finances – the More Consultative, the Better
Did you know that producers are instead of salespeople? You know why? Because producers have to go to the sales floor, and when they get there, one simply needs toizers,mpactual, or paycheck honorable–no need to sell! But right there is where the conflict of interest is being created.
You see, nothing functions in this world without sales and it is no different in the wealth building field. Salespeople will do any old thing ( Leverage, sales training, B sized sales training, Asset backed product sales, commissions, fees and commission based compensation, Oh My! … and the list goes on.) What you find when you give your Personal Finances counselor the assignment to advise on what you can do for your financial future, is that each person you’re speaking to will advocate one form, strategy or product, as if there isn’t an faster way to create that income stream.
You will not hear about corruption, taking advantage and hoarding, because these counselors are paid to make money. Make no mistake – they want your money in their voracious ballooning crave for you. Their entire presentation on national and international investments, insurmountable risk, and retirement planning will consist of volumes of information that will get your brain spinning. This is not what you’re searching for. You don’t need any more.
