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.
