My (slightly) tongue-in-cheek reply to Carl‘s most recent sketch:
Sorry for my poor freehand drawing skills in GIMP. 
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{ 3 comments }
“I don’t view financial advisors as evil people.”
Goodness, neither do I. My point is simply that relying on the advice of one particular financial advisor can be just as dangerous as relying on the advice of one particular book.
I think that financial advisors often do more harm than good. But I don’t view financial advisors as evil people.
I think that the problem is that the reason why most people seek out financial advisors is that they are afraid of investing. They are not looking for intellect, but for emotional comfort.
People need to learn the basics and feel comfortable with what they are doing. Then they will seek out advisors less often. And, when they do, they will obtain better results.
You cannot buy confidence in your investing choices.. You have to develop it from within.
Rob
Goodness, neither do I.
I understand. It was not my intent to suggest you did, Mike.
My point is simply that relying on the advice of one particular financial advisor can be just as dangerous as relying on the advice of one particular book.
It’s worse than that (and I think that the graphic in the blog entry suggests that it is worse). You could consult ten financial advisors and be in worse shape than when you consulted just one.
The question is — What is it that the advisor is trying to accomplish? A lot of times the advisor is not able to steer you to good investment decisions. A lot of times the advisor himself is not able to make good investment decisions for himself.
My view is that most of the things that hold us back in investing are emotional in nature rather than intellectual in nature. So “expertise” does not really count for much. People turn to advisors because it makes them feel better to have an “expert” look things over. But what is really needed is confidence and that can only come from inside.
You don’t need to understand everything, but you need to understand the basics. If you do, you probably don’t need an advisor. If you don’t, going to an advisor probably won’t help much.
Rob
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