All too often when we find ourselves in need of a doctor, a
lawyer, a dentist, or a financial advisor we turn to the least qualified
people for guidance; our family, friends and our other advisers. The
fact is that in today's world the playing field of medicine, law, and
finance is changing so fast that the professional who has the good old
boy reputation is not the most qualified provider of advice.
In many cases the best is not the guy with the big office and the large staffs with years experience but instead the hard worker with the most current education and information. Having spent my career in the world of finance it became evident to me that continuing education was as important as years of experience. As we have seen in the past year investment derivatives has drastically changed the world of investments. If your broker was not well schooled and well read you sat with him or her and saw your portfolio shrink on a daily basis while being advised that our banking system is strong and this down turn will not last. Yet if your advisor had read The Trillion Dollar Meltdown by Charles R. Morris published February, 2008, he could have given you a day by day description of what was going to happen to the investment markets over the following months. Since then the S&P 500 has lost over 35% of it value, City Group has gone from $29.00 to $4.00 per share and AIG has gone from $56.00 per share to $1.00 per share. You and your investment advisor would have understood Credit Default Swaps and how they compounded the problems of the Sub-Prime mess. You could have chosen not to participate in the past years crises.
Thankfully I did read Charles Morris's book but got caught by a series of unqualified and uneducated doctor's years earlier resulting in the amputation of my daughters left foot because for fifteen years her doctors misdiagnosed a cancerous tumor in her foot. The lesson to be learned is to research your professional advice providers.
Do they have professional designations, are they in good standing with their professional organizations, do they teach within their profession? In short are they current with the latest information within their field?
I was motivated by my daughter's question: "Dad why did this happen to me, I'm a good person?" Since my retirement in June 2004 I have worked to find reason for what happened to her. I designed and built a website BestofUS in an effort to help other people avoid the mistake that we made and give some level of guidance on where to look for the best professional in the United States. We as consumers have to take on some level responsibility for our health, our wealth, and our wellbeing. If we don't we will continue to be victims.
In many cases the best is not the guy with the big office and the large staffs with years experience but instead the hard worker with the most current education and information. Having spent my career in the world of finance it became evident to me that continuing education was as important as years of experience. As we have seen in the past year investment derivatives has drastically changed the world of investments. If your broker was not well schooled and well read you sat with him or her and saw your portfolio shrink on a daily basis while being advised that our banking system is strong and this down turn will not last. Yet if your advisor had read The Trillion Dollar Meltdown by Charles R. Morris published February, 2008, he could have given you a day by day description of what was going to happen to the investment markets over the following months. Since then the S&P 500 has lost over 35% of it value, City Group has gone from $29.00 to $4.00 per share and AIG has gone from $56.00 per share to $1.00 per share. You and your investment advisor would have understood Credit Default Swaps and how they compounded the problems of the Sub-Prime mess. You could have chosen not to participate in the past years crises.
Thankfully I did read Charles Morris's book but got caught by a series of unqualified and uneducated doctor's years earlier resulting in the amputation of my daughters left foot because for fifteen years her doctors misdiagnosed a cancerous tumor in her foot. The lesson to be learned is to research your professional advice providers.
Do they have professional designations, are they in good standing with their professional organizations, do they teach within their profession? In short are they current with the latest information within their field?
I was motivated by my daughter's question: "Dad why did this happen to me, I'm a good person?" Since my retirement in June 2004 I have worked to find reason for what happened to her. I designed and built a website BestofUS in an effort to help other people avoid the mistake that we made and give some level of guidance on where to look for the best professional in the United States. We as consumers have to take on some level responsibility for our health, our wealth, and our wellbeing. If we don't we will continue to be victims.
