doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Retirement Strategy

My investment "strategy" is simple. I'm diversified and not counting on any one area for funding my retirement.
If all else fails I have a 6 month supply of food and other necessities on hand at all times.
Jim

During the oil bust of the early eighties a story went around the oil patch. They bankruptcy judge was inteviewing the former oil man; "So what did you do with the twenty million from the loan?" "Well judge, we bought a corporate jet. And a couple of Ferraris, and a Rolls Royce, and a new office, and a game ranch. The rest we just pissed away on whisky and whores."

Any savings or investment is more likely to produce positive results than none at all.

Best,

Mike

I know I wish I hadn't transferred some of my investments to be watched over by a financial advisor. Not that he is doing bad but I just hate seeing the advisory fee on the statements.

Come to think about it, had I just took that money and bought a nice double barrel, I bet I would have done better than the markets the past 6 years.

A buddy went to the bank and was asked by the loan officer about his retirement assets and exit strategy. He told the startled banker that he had enough money to buy a cheap .38 revolver.

Yup. "Stick 'em up."

The maximum fee anyone should ever pay a FA is 1% of the total portfolio. There should be no additional charges. Period. Be wary of the FA who puts you into mutual funds that have a load - the FA gets a commission and is not putting your interests before his. Be wary of the FA who puts you into mutual funds operated by the parent firm (Example: Wachovia Bank owned Evergreen mutual funds and their investment "advisors" put clients into these funds, much to the clients' sorrows)

I know of one Merrill Lynch "wealth advisor" who put one of her clients into totally inappropriate instruments and was chargin 3% per annum for this outrageous "service"

Many financial advisors, are in my opinion and that of many others, crooks. Pure and simple crooks.

I've worked with the same financial adviser since I was in my late 20's and we planned for my retirement when I reached 50.

The names of the investment company has changed over the years but it's now Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. He is one of the most professional people I have ever worked with.

I had a good job and worked by the hour. We would meet maybe once a year and go over everything and plan for the year ahead. The company I worked for was sold so I had to wait until I was 55 to get health insurance.

I'm 65, I retired at 55 and could not be more pleased with my financial adviser.

My wife and I both decided that we should think about retirement early. We then talked with many friends and found this man. The majority of the people I worked with are still working.

Like any occupation there are good ones and bad ones, ask around.

Thank you MP, I also am an investment advisor and have been in the business 30 yrs. 28 yrs. with the same firm. My son is now my partner and has been in the business 19 yrs. 15 with this firm. As with any profession there are good and bad, successful and unsuccessful IA's. As for investments, any investment including homes and land can and do lose value. A long term plan investing in 401-k, IRA, or stocks, bonds,mutual funds has been a good way to build retirement funds. Remember a healthy married couple age 65 should plan on 1 or both living 30 yrs. EVERYTHING you buy gets more expensive to buy when you replace it, (car,gun,food,gas) How will a person get a retirement income from guns or land, without selling it. A stock, bond, mutual fund can and has returned to the investor a cash flow that historically has beaten inflation and allowed a person to maintain a standard of living. As for guns, I buy them to use and enjoy. If you think the management fee/commission is to high at 1% to 3 % please consider the benefit as well as the cost. Some of the investments I recommend to clients I am paid 1% to 2% when they buy and the investment (stock or bond) and will be held without any cost for many years. Mutual funds and variable annuities pay me 1% per year. Don't make the mistake of only looking at cost, be sure you look at benefit. kind of like buying a $200. gun or a $10000 gun, they are not the same.

murphy- you are quite right. Sometimes you have to pay more to get quality. I believe that in guns, cars, houses and "stuff" such as the art I collect.

However, if anybody tries to tell me that they can maintain neutrality or look out for my interests first when they sell me something that pays them an up-front amount and then an annual premium, Murph - I am in my 70s - and have heard this for over a half-century.

Anybody who has been around the block knows about conflict of interest.

Period.

It is total BS to argue that a FA who sells a retail mark some instrument that pays the FA a continuing stream is going to look out for the mark's interest. This is tooth-fairy stuff.

As someone who invests on behalf of his family and himself, I urge everyone to indeed "look at the benefit" and not only the cost. Indeed a $200 and a $10000 gun are not the same.

And a front-end fund that pays commission to the FA who flogs it to you and a Vanguard fund are not the same either. One is demonstrably better.

I stand by my statement that most FAs (excepting present company) are dishonest. Conflict of interest is dishonest and crooked. People who have conflicts of interest are crooks and eventually they get caught and they go to jail.

Just check the history of the BS annuities that these guys sell you compared to the ones that don't have these charges.

Most of these guys will refuse to tell you (and guarantee the truthfulness of their statements) what their track record is. You will be given all sorts of BS mumbo-jumbo about how it isn't possible to compare different investment strategies..blah blah.

The only honest FA is one who will work on a fee-for-services and not a commission basis. If you have been hooked by a commission FA, please just log into the Vanguard website and look over their literature. IT'S YOUR MONEY, NOT THEIRS

By the way, Michael Petrov, one of the honest FAs I know personally is also with Morgan Stanley. Maybe they put something into the water!!

I think Morgan Stanley has been caught more than once with their hands in the cookie jar.