Mikael Rieck is the author of more than hundred articles on topics of how to make money both online and offline. He has been online since 1999 and has always had a passion for money making opportunities and teaching others how to make a profit.Retirement Investing – Don’t Trust Advisors’ Advice
Now I know that this is quite a statement and there are probably a lot of people that would like to argue with me on this statement and that is just fine. But I would like to share my views on planning for your retirement and why I believe that listening to most advisors is a poor and brainless choice.
When I say brainless I am not calling you stupid but merely stating that most people are passively listening to what advice the most marketing oriented (those that makes the most noise) advisors are saying. And being passive means not using your brain and in that sense you could just as well be brainless 
But there is one thing that is probably worse than listening to loud investment advisors and managers and that is to take advice from your parents and closest friends UNLESS they have a PROVEN record of how to actually invest for their retirement.
As I have mentioned earlier, and I want to state it again and again is that the absolute BEST strategy for a safe retirement plan is to take advice from people that has actually done what they advise you to do.
Yes times will change and investing in big American car manufacturers might not be the best advice despite the fact that it worked for someone that retired 6 years ago, but the underlying idea of what a company must have to flourish and expand hasn’t changed much (if at all).
If You Don’t Know Anyone
If you don’t know anyone that has actually been able to make favorable investments in order to be able to retire with the standard of living that they had planned (I am not talking about “just getting by”), then when would NOW be the right time to start looking?
I assume you’re able to read because if you aren’t then you’re not reading this and because of this skill you’re in great luck. There are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of books written by successful people that have been able to make good sound investment planning and followed through. And the best part is that they have done it using a number of different ways from earning a normal income from a job, starting their own company, forex and stock trading and everything in between. So all you need to do is pick your vehicle and start reading.
Before you go out and start buying books be sure to pick books where the author became rich from something else than writing the very books you want to buy – unless of cause you want to making your fortune as a writer.
By reading books you’ll get new ideas and strategies that will make your mind focus unconsciously on “how to” make this into a reality for you. When you get to that point you don’t need those boring retirement investing calculators that will tell you how much you should save each month to get a low yearly interest payment.
Instead you now have a mentor (in the books), you can start looking for seminars on the vehicle of your choice and once you start acting according to the advice you’re given from those that went before you, the road will be a lot more certain and the goal much more achievable than when you left your brain at home and handed over all your retirement money to an advisors whose job it is to sell you a product that will make them (and/or their company) rich.
Remember that the ONLY ONE that really cares about your money and your future is YOU.
To Your (Retirement) Success,
Mikael
13 Responses so far
Nicolas Prudhon@SEO Help
July 17th, 2009
3:14 am
Hi Mikael,
I know exactly what you are referring to! Before I actually became good in investing in stocks and Forex, I did what most of the people do.
That is nothing. Just talk to my banker, he would advice to invest $20,000 in some whatever it is (i didn’t know anything at that time), then a few month later the investment is not doing so good, but all is not lost, the banker tells me that if I invest another $10,000 all will be better… well this went on until I lost $40,000 doing nothing.
This kind of kept me out of any “investment opportunity” for quite sometime…
Then one day I read an article about trading and suddenly woke up and decided that I could learn that, and actually do better than my banker.
So I learned, I practiced, and I made money, lots of it and very fast, enough to reach the stage where my NEW banker was now the one asking me which stock the bank should invest in…
Anyway, what I want to say is that you have to take action and responsibility for your life and money, and be it in investment or business itself, being passive always cost me more than taking action.
.-= Nicolas Prudhon@SEO Help´s last blog ..I Need Your Help =-.
Mikael
July 17th, 2009
7:40 am
Well, even though $40K may seem like a lot of money the “average joe” is loosing far more on hos retirement savings of the course of his life because he didn’t care to spend some time learning.
One of the problem with most of these plans is that the banker/adviser doesn’t make the most of his/her money from making your money grow but from fees from every trade made.
And we all know the effect of constant dealing…. any profits will be eaten up by fees and the bad thing about fees is that they are there no matter if you make money or not.
Mikael
Nicolas Prudhon@SEO Help
July 17th, 2009
8:02 am
That’s very true Mikael, especially in the Forex world where you can trade much more than in the stock market (though such practices apply there too).
And just like you said, whether you make money or not, they don’t really care as the broker always make money as it takes its margin on each transaction you make regardless of whether it’s a winning or losing one.
The more transaction you make, the more money they make.
.-= Nicolas Prudhon@SEO Help´s last blog ..How To Handle Google Webmaster Tools Data Discrepancies =-.
Mikael
July 17th, 2009
8:13 am
I have heard that it has been a big problem for many brokers (I wonder why they are called “broke’ers *lol*) in the last 10 months as the volume of stock trading has been extremely low and because of this they have had a harder time explaining why it would be a good idea to trade. Because of this they have lost enormous amount in fees.
Why are we taught to trust these professionals??
Nicolas Prudhon@SEO Help
July 17th, 2009
8:19 am
We do because it’s human nature, we are attracted to “easy money”.
You think that they are professionals and they know something that you don’t and by using their services, you won’t have to learn that thing, just sit back and wait for the money to flow.
What we forget is that if they were so good at trading, they wouldn’t be broker, they would be traders no?
But just like everything, there’s not shortcut to success.
.-= Nicolas Prudhon@SEO Help´s last blog ..How To Handle Google Webmaster Tools Data Discrepancies =-.
Mikael
July 17th, 2009
8:30 am
I don’t think so Nicolas. Babies are not born with a desire to make easy money. We have had to learn it from somewhere. I’m guessing that it is the marketers “fault” that we’re in this instant gratification mode.
As for the reasoning about traders being employees because they are really not THAT good, it is something that I’ve said for many years.
However I am starting to see it in a different way as I now know that some people prefer SECURITY (which people thinks a JOB will give them) outweighs making a lot of money. There are a lot of places where you will see brilliant people working jobs even though they could make 10-100 times more working for themselves.
Again…. conditioning!
Mikael
Nicolas Prudhon@SEO Help
July 17th, 2009
8:37 am
I guess you are right, this is why we always talk about the dreams we had when we were baby that so many give up on as they grow up…
I actually talk a lot with brokers, and I do often ask then the question whether they trade or not, and almost all the time, they say they don’t because it’s just too risky. This goes along with your security concept.
Conditioning indeed, but this is why we run blogs like what we do!
.-= Nicolas Prudhon@SEO Help´s last blog ..How To Handle Google Webmaster Tools Data Discrepancies =-.
Mikael
July 17th, 2009
8:47 am
Like Robert Kiyosaki would say:
“Investing is not risky if you know what you are doing”
And that applies to all kinds of investing (stocks, options, forex, real estate etc.).
I have to admit that I have invested a VERY decent amount in stocks and I know absolutely nothing (or very little) about stocks and the underlying companies.
I guess that is why Warren Buffet is so successful. He doesn’t invest in stocks but rather in the underlying company/business.
Yesterday I put up a new sign on the wall in front of my computer (as a reminder) saying:
“Investing for Capital Gains is Gambling – Invest for Cash Flow”
Nicolas Prudhon@SEO Help
July 17th, 2009
8:54 am
I love that:
“Investing for Capital Gains is Gambling – Invest for Cash Flow”
If you ask Warren Buffet his definition of a good investment, he will tell you:
“A good investment is something that doesn’t need to be fed or repaired…”
A bit extreme to me, but I see the logic in that
I really agree with the concept that as long as you know what you doing, you are not taking “that much risk” as people may think. This leads me to always want to learn more about everything and anything I do or that can affect my life, it’s kind of a self-development virus…
Just because you outsource work doesn’t mean that you don’t need to have some basic knowledge about it, regardless if it’s trading, investing, accounting, marketing, SEO, or anything else you can think of.
Anyway, as long as you grow cash flow and assets, you’ll be building your wealth!
.-= Nicolas Prudhon@SEO Help´s last blog ..How To Handle Google Webmaster Tools Data Discrepancies =-.
Mikael
July 17th, 2009
8:58 am
That Buffet guy is pretty smart
When investing in real estate (which I have done a little) the same basic rule apply. The great deal is done at the time of investment and not when / if the property increases in value.
The trick is to buy at a low enough price to be able to turn it into a cash flow stream.
Well… I’m going of on a rant here…. I guess we can conclude that we agree
Nicolas Prudhon@SEO Help
July 17th, 2009
9:05 am
Yes, I agree there.
Talking about smart investor, I’m watching Married with Children right now… Al Bundy is a real inspiration of who I don’t want to become!
.-= Nicolas Prudhon@SEO Help´s last blog ..How To Handle Google Webmaster Tools Data Discrepancies =-.
Ric
July 17th, 2009
1:56 pm
You bring up a subject that many people are further from today than they were a few years ago. I consider money in the top 3-5 on a priority scale behind health, family and faith. So it’s pretty important, but we have a system that barely touches this subject in an educational sense, Why? So we feel that we need a so called “Adviser” to take care of us. They take care of us alright.
1% fee – what incentive is this for them to really take care of your money? None, for this you end up in the mutual fund pile like the other clients. Just invest in SPY (s&p 500) and get the same results and save 1% plus fees.
We could go on forever, but as Mikael said no one will take care of your money better than you. At the very least getting educated will help you recognize if something stinks if you still decide to put your money in the hands of these salesman so called “Advisers”.
Regards
.-= Ric´s last blog ..Bankruptcy Newsline =-.
Mikael
July 17th, 2009
2:36 pm
Hi Ric,
It is funny that you mention health, family and faith. All of these have seen a decline in the same years too.
Knowing that you are being taken for a ride is the first step to take control. If you don’t know that something is wrong you won’t act on it.
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