Page 35 - Ready Set Retire

Ready. Set. Retire!

though you still might wish to seek out an advisor who has the
training and licensure for it, rather than one who has merely
had it thrust upon them.

How does this manifest itself in people’s lives?

I recently ran across an article from the AP in our local paper.
The headline read, “Investors lose billions in savings betting
on energy partnerships.” The article reported the story of a
recently widowed school teacher in Texas who was concerned
about having enough money to raise her two young girls and
have enough for retirement.

So, a financial services representative, portraying himself as a
financial planner, recommended she put her money in energy
partnerships that would allow her to ride the “shale oil boom,”
promising her high returns and a steady stream of payments to
help cover her bills. The article reports she liked him because
of his confidence in the product, and she trusted him. Within
a short time (two years), the client had lost half of her life
savings.

Was he trustworthy? As a registered rep with a major financial
services firm—one you would recognize—he had the cache of
respectability and trust, but, without the responsibility. He
hitched himself to the wagon of respectability, trustworthiness
and goodwill of the company’s millions and millions of dollars

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