May 10, 2010
When my Dad died over 10 years ago, and left me money
I was greiving and unable to completely comprehend what was going on with his (now my) accounts. Between the funeral, the lawyers, the government, greiving relatives, and my own broken heart, trying to understand things like "asset allocation" and "portfolio diversification", etc. were was not something I could comprehend at that time. But I didn't worry too much about it because I assumed the people who worked with my Dad and did a good job for him would do the same for me. And if nothing else certainly these people at least had some rules and laws they had to follow so that my Dad's (my) money was at least safe. Now that I have started to learn (the hard way) how this works and what obligations a financial advisor has to his clients and what laws/rules he has to follow, I can look back a see that I was an easy source of income - for them. They saw me coming a mile away Maybe some of it was legal? But it certainly was not ethical to take advantage of a greiving daughter who put her trust in these so-called "professionals".
This a good example of some of the ways a person can be taken advantage of if they do not know enough http://www.investopedia.com/articles/mutualfund/08/hidden-investment-fees.asp?viewed=1