Page 33 - Ready Set Retire

Ready. Set. Retire!

owes a fiduciary duty only to its investment clients and has no
broker-dealer.

In other words, the critical difference between a stockbroker
and a Registered Investment Advisor is that the RIA is subject
to the high fiduciary legal standard when providing investment
advising services while the stockbroker is not. This difference
could have a major impact on your investment portfolio and
hence your retirement lifestyle.

Full disclosure (a component of the trust standard!) requires
that I disclose that I am biased. One reason I never became a
Series 6 or Series 7 representative is because I want no outside
party telling me what I should be doing with my clients. If I
believe it’s in your best interest to go one way, and my broker-
dealer was insisting, for “compliance purposes,” that I provide
you another solution and downplay or dismiss what I believe
is the best answer for you, I want to have the freedom to do
what is in your best interest without fear of losing my
livelihood.

Series 6 and Series 7 representatives are often barred from
doing that by their broker-dealers. Imagine a business model
that requires you to do something that is not in your clients’
best interest!

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