| If you are like the majority of hard-working, | | | | qualified financial adviser, allowed him to cream off |
| permanently employed people you will have spent | | | | generous commissions, taken every word of his |
| your working life being urged by your | | | | advice and done everything, absolutely everything, |
| government to save for your retirement and to | | | | that the government advised you to do. |
| put money by for your children's education and to | | | | When you look at your financial statements and |
| invest in a home. In fact, most of the money you | | | | survey the wreckage of your supposed wealth it |
| have ever earned has probably been channeled | | | | can make you feel like you have been robbed. |
| one way or another along these routes. | | | | Which is exactly what has happened. You have |
| The financial markets have produced a huge | | | | been robbed by a dishonest and corrupt system |
| array of products that compete for the business | | | | which depends on extortion for its existence and |
| of taking your money and investing it to achieve | | | | ignorance for its enforcement. |
| these objectives. And because the government | | | | How does this make you feel? There are two |
| assumes that you are too ignorant or feckless to | | | | types of responses to this situation. The first is to |
| choose the right products for yourself it | | | | shrug your shoulders and retreat into the delusion |
| recommends, or indeed insists, that you use the | | | | that the market, and your money, will eventually |
| services of a financial adviser when buying one of | | | | recover and all will be well. The second response |
| the products. | | | | is to get mad. |
| Accordingly, financial advisers and the products | | | | When you get mad and you investigate further |
| they sell are subject to massive regulations | | | | you'll discover that your highly paid financial |
| designed to limit what you can do with your | | | | adviser is little more than a salesman and has no |
| money. This is supposedly designed for your own | | | | particular expertise or experience in investing |
| protection. The government does not want you | | | | money. You will discover that fund managers are |
| frittering away your money on unsuitable financial | | | | more concerned to protect their bonuses than |
| products, losing most of it and then becoming | | | | invest your money wisely. And when you look at |
| dependent on the state in your old age. The | | | | the regulations that are supposed to safeguard |
| message is that financial advisers have the | | | | you you will find that they are worthless: there is |
| expertise that you lack to direct and invest your | | | | no guarantee that your obedience to the system |
| money and that if you stick to the system you | | | | has protected your money at all. |
| will be safe. | | | | In fact, you will discover that you are on your |
| But guess what? It does not work. | | | | own. The systems and safeguards that are |
| The past ten years (25% or 30% of most | | | | supposed to provide the security for your money |
| people's career spans) have demonstrated that | | | | patently do not work. Your hard-earned savings |
| they system does not deliver the benefits it is | | | | have been squandered away by greedy, |
| supposed to deliver. Because the system was | | | | incompetent knuckleheads propped up by a |
| designed in the days when everyone assumed | | | | system that is impotent to safeguard you. |
| that the markets would continue to rise. Or at | | | | The lesson is clear. You must take control of your |
| worst, would always recover to former levels | | | | own money. You must become independent of |
| after any temporary downturn. This is | | | | the legalized theft that is the financial services |
| demonstrably no longer true. Some of the biggest | | | | market and you must assume responsibility for |
| banks in the world have gone bust. Well known | | | | the management of your own capital. There are |
| fund managers have been exposed as criminals. | | | | many, little-known financial instruments now |
| Retirement funds have imploded. | | | | available to independent, private investors that |
| For example, if you have a pension or savings | | | | enable them to do just that. You owe it to |
| account invested in, say, mutual funds, there is a | | | | yourself and your family to investigate the route |
| 90% chance that not only is your fund way short | | | | to financial freedom that will enable you to rebuild |
| of its projected value but it is worth less than the | | | | your wealth. |
| amount of money you have paid into it. And this | | | | Don't get mad, get even. |
| is despite the fact that you have employed a | | | | |