Stuck in Bad Investment Thanks to Stock Broker
Monday March 10, 2008
The financial press is constantly reporting stories of investors who find themselves stuck in a bad investment. It is sometimes hard to decide who is at fault, the broker who wants a fat commission and/or fee from a sale or the investor who is so eager to make a quick buck, he overlooks the risks.
Comments
I have not had a problem with bad broker advice, because my wife and I make the decisions on what and when to buy.
I take that back I got great advice from a local broker in the early sixties. He had some Marriott shares on an offering by the family. I got some shares. Still have them, but a lot more now. Along with the shares came the advice to buy for the long term. We have followed this ever since. We still hols 90% of the companies we have chosen to invest in. The remaining went belly up. All the rest are at least ten times our purchase cost. And we reinvest any earings and not spend any of it. This is as simple as it can get. In retirement we live on less than our pensions, have zero debt for almost two decades and buy a new car when the old one completly wears out .
Works wonders for us. And Mr. Buffett whose shares are in our portfolio.
Schwab talked me into using FMA out of Harrisburg. In one month this broker destroyed my IRA. He did not dollar cost average. He dumped my money in funds all at once. He left my money fund positions under funded so I had to pay monthly fees for the first time every. I am no expert but I at least know the basics. I will never forgive schwab for recomending this unqualified broker and I am in the process of leaving schwab after 20 years.