pf101
Senior Member
Cash: $ 62.25
Posts: 311
Joined: 12 Sep 2007
Location: Portland, OR
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quote:
Originally posted by coaster
Just to interject a note here that it's up to the forum moderators to determine what's spam and what's not.
Yep and while I don't think the line has been crossed for straight spam it still rubs me the wrong way.
And I respect Apollo. He's a smart guy and I'm sure his company provides a service that some people want/need. I just see his stance on paid investment advisers as hypocritical and would ask that he lay off the generalizations about a group that he technically belongs to.
Personal Finance 101
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Fri Oct 26, 2007 4:57 pm |
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Apollo
Senior Member
Cash: $ 73.85
Posts: 360
Joined: 10 Sep 2007
Location: New York
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pf101,
first of all I would kindly ask you not to comment on my company for the simple fact that you do not know anything about the company which I represent. You have to admit that it is not very smart to comment or judge 'anything' on which you don't know nothing about and to base it on assumptions is even less smart, in my opinion.
You say that my 'constant bashing' is getting old but it seems to be ok for you to always recommend and advice the same things over and over. That doesn't make any sense to me.
You may not like my posts due to the point-of-view that I have and the recommendations I make and the same is true for me in regards to your posts but one thing I comprehend is that you don't give me the advice but you give it to the poster who seeks advice or information. Another thing I want to note here is that it's always a different poster to whom you and I respond and therefore we both seem to repeat the advice we give.
That's what this forum is here for, to give advice and not to make judgements for the poster. Investors should be exposed to different point-of-views and not just one. I think you should accept that fact.
I remember during a previous discussion I suggested that we both leave our advice and let the individual decide what is good and bad for them and not to have this discussion anymore as I personally think it's a waste of time and doesn't benefit anyone.
I never said that all financial planners are bad and said that there are good once out there but they will be tough to find. I do not dislike their service due to the fact that most if not all recommend mutual funds but rather because most of their advice in regards to financials is common sense and anyone can come up with the plans they suggest.
In my opinion there is a difference between financial advice and investment advice.
Your stats about mutual funds may be correct but I think the major reason why they are so popular is because investors are not informed well and I also believe (and I have plenty of investors and fund-managers who share this particular point of view) that mutual funds are for middle-class investors who want to remain middle-class investors.
There are plenty who look for something else but are not aware of other options or are 'scared' away by advice like yours that it is too risky. The fear of better returns is greater then the benefit of higher returns and mostly due to simply wrong information given to them by the general public.
You also said that its important to shield investors from bad advisors but how do you know who is bad and who is good when it comes to financial/investment advice?
I neither said all financial planners are bad nor that all mutual funds are bad. You should inform yourself a little bit better before accusing me of the things which you do.
The 'so-called' may insult you and I have to say that one thing that aggrevates me a bit is your point-of-view that money or investments should not be actively managed or looked upon only twice a year and if you do that you will get lower returns. That, in my opinion, is some of the worst advice any investor can follow.
You see, we both have different point of views and that what we both have to respect. As far as I am concerned I respect your opinion, don't agree and understand that you just do what you personally think is good. I do the same. You have facts that back up your point of view and I have facts that back up my point-of-view. The market is big enough for all investment-strategies and once again let investors choose what fits their investment goals.
One thing I never said is that there is only one way to invest. If you would read the posts a bit more careful you would have noticed the following:
1. I always recommend global equity markets, that is correct.
2. I always say that investors have two choices:
a) Invest without help and do it alone
b) Invest with help. I never say what type of help or what type of strategy. Mutual funds would also fit in that category as I never specify what typeof help.
The above two, as far as I know, are the only two choices any investors has. You either do it alone or you get help.
3. I alway say that there is no right or wrong investment strategy just a good and a bad one.
Furthermore I never say that my approach is the good one but always say that it depends on the definition of the individual investor.
4. I never ever mentioned:
a) My company
b) What we do
c) That we may be able to assist
5. I never spammed or tried to promote my company.
I really don't understand where you get the impression that I have the point-of-view that my company is the only good one or that I refer to any other advice as bad. I also don't understand why you accuse me that I don't respect other strategies or that I say other advisers are bad. I don't even know why you bring up my company to begin with since:
a) I never mention anything about my company
b) You don't know anything about my company
Another thing:
You think to justify the success of any investment strategy by looking at ROI is a 'cop out'.
Have you heard the following before:
'The score-card of a CEO is the stock price'
Well, the following is true for fund-managers and their investment strategies:
The score-card of a fund-manager is the ROI of the managed fund.
To say that ROI doesn't matter or is not the single most important aspect when choosing advice or a fund is like buying a car and after you ask if the car is running well you get a responds which says don't care about if the car runs all that matters is that you have a car.
In the end, especially if you invst in funds, it will come down to how much will you have at the end of each specified time-period.
In my opinion it's also true that you get what you pay for, i.e. small fees small returns, big fees big returns but in the end you will almost always have more money with the 'big-fee-advisors' then with the 'small-fee-advisors'.
Once again it depends on the individual investor and the individual definition of success and that will guide further decisions.
Any investor that says that ROI is not important or should be largely ignored is like saying I bought a car not to get around but to have it sit in my garage.
Another thing I never said is that it's wrong not to promote their services here or to lay-out their point of view. That is only an assumption that you have.
You say you're not for paid financial advice but the mutual funds that you recommend they charge fees as well so why is it ok to pay a mutual fund manager for, in my opinion, poor returns but not ok to pay a higher fee for higher returns in the alternative investment community?
It seems to me that all the things that you accuse me are the exact things that you currently do. Maybe you shoul read more careful and fully understand before accusing me of 'anything'.
I think you don't fully understand my point-of-view and then try to take a defensive stand and accuse me of arrogance and clasify me as offensive which makes me wonder who the arrogant and offenive member is.
If I add 'in my opinion' or 'personally' then I write what I think if you like it or not I think you need to accept it just the way that I accept your opinion. We don't have to agree but we need to respect each other.
You have accused me of many things that are non-sense but you still say that I talk 'shit about others'. That's what I call hypocritical.
Personally, I don't know if this post was meant to be insulting or offensive but I think it's a waste of time.
Once again I have never said, neither directly nor indirectly, any of the things you accuse me off and I recommend that you check the facts.
I understand that its a highly competitive industry which is great and ROI is what the industry-professionals are measured by and I just can't accept a 15% ROI on an annual base as acceptable and refer to it as a good or smart investment which is the reason why I can't refer to advisors who reccomend such a strategy as good advisors and that is my opinion based on my definition of a succesful investment strategy.
That doesn't mean that it's not ok for investors who choose that path I only post my personal opinion.
The accusations you lay out here and the fact that it seems that you try to tell this forum I am a potential bad advisor because you have wrong facts and a misunderstanding abut the industry which I represent makes me wonder about you as an advisor.
You accuse me of not respecting other strategies but you seem to be the one that doesn't respect another point-of-view besides the one that you represent and the one your indusrty represents and seems to be proud of.
I appologize for this long post and I truly kept it as short as possible and left long explanations out. Once again my appologies.
It is not smart to play it safe but it is safe to play it smart.
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Sat Oct 27, 2007 7:59 pm |
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efflandt
Senior Member
Cash: $ 80.45
Posts: 401
Joined: 25 Apr 2005
Location: Elgin, IL USA
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Back to the original question, see http://www.irs.gov/retirement/content/0,,id=97203,00.html
You might also search the irs.gov site for "SEP", "Simple IRA", and "Simple 401(k)".
I believe a personal IRA is independent of a business retirement plan, however, I do not know the details for self employed. I do know that if you have a company 401(k), that affects deductable contributions to a traditional IRA, but does not affect contribution limits to a Roth IRA.
Some things to note about a Roth IRA is that contributions are after-tax, and can be withdrawn at any time without tax/penalty. So it could serve as part of an emergency fund. Gains might be taxed/penalized if withdrawn before qualified. But "qualified" gains are never taxed, and there is never required distribution, like there is for a traditional IRA or 401(k).
As far as investment vehicles, I will leave that squabbling to others. But 2 things that helped me a lot, after trying to learn investing IRA money on my own for a year, have been a subscription to eIBD and the basic stocks course of Investools. My IRA money that had been earning CD rates for 20+ years, is now exceeding the double digit % gain of my 401(k) (together year to date exceeding my annual taxable wages for the 1st time). I am in 5 of 30 fund choices in my 401(k), and my IRA/Roth IRA consist of 2 mutual funds, and a mix of stocks and foreign ETF's. That is making early retirement look much more possible.
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Sun Oct 28, 2007 5:56 pm |
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