I am dumbfounded by this guy...

[BreathFree]

I know I am not perfect, so I try not to judge... but are people really this clueless? Am I clueless and missing something here? Is this a sister publication to the Onion? The article seems genuine.

For those that don't want to click: Cab driver who is also a financial blogger changed jobs to become a financial adviser for high net worth individuals and at age 56 and with virtually no savings of his own says, "At the moment, I have got £13,000 in my pension. If I achieve my £300,000 target, my plan is to withdraw £80,000 to £100,000 as a lump sum and buy a 50-foot yacht. I know I may have to pay tax on such a large withdrawal but it will be worth it. The other £200,000 I will use to live on while I sail around the Med with my wife."

What high net worth individual hired this guy to be a financial adviser?

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/may/26/should-have-saved-instead-of-going-on-sailing-holidays

 

[Walt34]

I liked this part:

It will be easy to live frugally on a yacht that’s at sea – there is no council tax or mooring fees to pay.

Clearly, this guy has never owned so much as a rowboat.

 

[mystang52]

In my opinion, there's a grammar error in the title. "I've been stupid" should be "I am stupid."

 

[razztazz]

In 10 yrs will he not have the UK version of Social Security? Maybe that plus his 300,000 pounds ....?

Other than that "bright spot" yeah, Loony Toons!

 

[CaliKid]

I have heard once or twice that "all publicity is good publicity."

 

[BreathFree]

I liked this part:



Clearly, this guy has never owned so much as a rowboat.

Everyone knows that boat is an acronym for Break Out Another Thousand. Keeping the boat at sea exposed to marine conditions on a sustained basis is going to escalate those cost even further. Not to mention fuel cost. His best bet would be to make it a floating condo, if he can find an inexpensive slip. I know someone who did this; he has shore power so none of the engines on the boat are maintained. $300 a month waterfront.

 

[Texas Proud]

I think you missed the most important part of this article....

My salary now is commission-based. I haven’t earned any commission yet,




​

Maybe there are not stupid people hiring him...

 

[athena53]

What high net worth individual hired this guy to be a financial adviser?

DS settles claims for people who have totaled their cars. One real PITA he dealt with was a guy whose $75,000 Cadillac Escalade went up in smoke as a result of a fire at the place where it was being detailed. The guy was outraged that the offer wasn't enough to pay off his loan and kept reminding DS every chance he got, "I am a Certified Financial Planner".

DS said he'd never hire a CFP who was upside down on a car loan.

 

[aja8888]

DS settles claims for people who have totaled their cars. One real PITA he dealt with was a guy whose $775,000 Cadillac Escalade went up in smoke as a result of a fire at the place where it was being detailed. The guy was outraged that the offer wasn't enough to pay off his loan and kept reminding DS every chance he got, "I am a Certified Financial Planner".

DS said he'd never hire a CFP who was upside down on a car loan.

$775,000 Cad?

 

[athena53]

$775,000 Cad?

Oops. Had time to fix it. Thanks.

 

[4legsgood]

I was disappointed to see this article in the Guardian, which I have trusted as a reliable source of information. Lesson learned!

 

[4legsgood]

I have heard once or twice that "all publicity is good publicity."

This reminds me of hearing from relative of a friend who is a high placed Hilton executive, on the Paris Hilton sex video, 'You can't buy that kind of publicity.'

 

[Mdlerth]

Who needs stardom if you can be FA to the stars?

What high net worth individual hired this guy to be a financial adviser?

Any number of professional athletes and famous musicians have engaged financial advisors with qualifications similar to this guy's. Not that it worked out all that well for them, but there is plenty of precedent.

 

[MrLoco]

I know I am not perfect, so I try not to judge... but are people really this clueless? Am I clueless and missing something here? Is this a sister publication to the Onion? The article seems genuine.

For those that don't want to click: Cab driver who is also a financial blogger changed jobs to become a financial adviser for high net worth individuals and at age 56 and with virtually no savings of his own says, "At the moment, I have got £13,000 in my pension. If I achieve my £300,000 target, my plan is to withdraw £80,000 to £100,000 as a lump sum and buy a 50-foot yacht. I know I may have to pay tax on such a large withdrawal but it will be worth it. The other £200,000 I will use to live on while I sail around the Med with my wife."

What high net worth individual hired this guy to be a financial adviser?

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/may/26/should-have-saved-instead-of-going-on-sailing-holidays

I understand what you are saying. But what would dumbfound me would be anyone actually hiring this guy. But I am sure some will.


Just like some TV commercials. Remember the chia pet? I used to think...Noooooo....no one would actually BUY that! then I did a little research. The chia pet has been around since 1982. And since 2007, 500,000 are sold around the holidays at an average cost of $20. That's $10,000,000 a year. Someone is getting rich! Selling terracotta figurines growing grass like herbs!!!


Which reminds me. In reference to high net worth individuals. Now granted, some may have inherited wealth and not earned it but what has always amazed me is when supposedly "educated" individuals .....doctors, lawyers, professors, etc. will just hand over their life savings to one independent financial adviser and be part of a Ponzi scheme. You see this all the time on CNBC's series.....American Greed.....greed on the part of the investor and greed on the part of financial adviser.
If it sounds too good to be true............

 

[folivier]

On our trip to Europe we met a nice older couple on the fast train out of Rome. He was surprised we were retired and on a 6 week trip. Said he could only afford 1 week since he was so in debt he had to get back to the office. Yep, he was a FA!

 

[athena53]

Which reminds me. In reference to high net worth individuals. Now granted, some may have inherited wealth and not earned it but what has always amazed me is when supposedly "educated" individuals .....doctors, lawyers, professors, etc. will just hand over their life savings to one independent financial adviser and be part of a Ponzi scheme. You see this all the time on CNBC's series.....American Greed.....greed on the part of the investor and greed on the part of financial adviser.
If it sounds too good to be true............

Ah, I miss that CNBC show since I dropped cable and got Netflix- but not enough to pay for cable again!

I remember seeing one show on the Madoff scam; an investor who was a former financial advisor had lost tons of money. I wonder if, while she understood that "high return, no risk" was an impossibility, she figured someone else was getting the short end of the stick so she was OK with investing her money with him.

 

[MRG]

Any number of professional athletes and famous musicians have engaged financial advisors with qualifications similar to this guy's. Not that it worked out all that well for them, but there is plenty of precedent.

I w*rked with two guys who had to carry maps to find their cubes every day. Both are now FAs and pulling in 6 figures. I'm sure they still need maps.

 

[GravitySucks]

On our trip to Europe we met a nice older couple on the fast train out of Rome. He was surprised we were retired and on a 6 week trip. Said he could only afford 1 week since he was so in debt he had to get back to the office. Yep, he was a FA!

First cruise DW and I took we met an FA and were quite impressed and took his business card hoping we could start working with a pro.
Second day we met him again and he was telling us how he bought a time share on St. Thomas that day.
Third day her told us about the time share he bought on St. Croix that day and how they were great real estate and rental investments.
I tore his card up at that point and sadly went back to overfilling my 401k and it's boring MFs.

 

[Chuckanut]

This guy reminds me of a person i know who loudly brags her financial smarts have made here 'debt free!!!" and never mentions her recent bankruptcy.

 

[Gumby]

This guy reminds me of a person i know who loudly brags her financial smarts have made here 'debt free!!!" and never mentions her recent bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy is often the smartest financial move for people in certain situations.

 

[NW-Bound]

... what has always amazed me is when supposedly "educated" individuals .....doctors, lawyers, professors, etc. will just hand over their life savings to one independent financial adviser and be part of a Ponzi scheme. You see this all the time on CNBC's series.....American Greed.....greed on the part of the investor and greed on the part of financial adviser...

Some people are dedicated to their work and they do not have time to look into financial matters themselves. And being experts themselves, they think that investing should be left to other "experts".

I was just an engineer, and also had problems investing myself. However, being skeptical and also a DIY type, I did not fall for any tricks. I read books and financial magazines, but before the advent of the Internet it was not as easy as now to open an account with a discount broker. Opening an account with MF's involved snail mail and I did open some accounts, with the idea of putting more money in later, but did not follow up.

Work and self-study for career advancement took a lot of my time, and I could have done a lot better during the great bull run of 1980-2000. One day in 1999, when it became clear that my small startup would flounder, I sat down and added up all my accounts, after-tax as well as 401k, IRAs, etc... I was surprised to see I was at the million dollar mark. Darn, and that was with a lot of idle cash sitting there because I was too busy to do the right thing. From that point, I swore no more.

Since then, I know exactly what my investable assets are, down to the dollar. Every single day, except when I have no Internet access.

 

[pb4uski]

I know I am not perfect, so I try not to judge... but are people really this clueless? Am I clueless and missing something here? Is this a sister publication to the Onion? The article seems genuine.

For those that don't want to click: Cab driver who is also a financial blogger changed jobs to become a financial adviser for high net worth individuals and at age 56 and with virtually no savings of his own says, "At the moment, I have got £13,000 in my pension. If I achieve my £300,000 target, my plan is to withdraw £80,000 to £100,000 as a lump sum and buy a 50-foot yacht. I know I may have to pay tax on such a large withdrawal but it will be worth it. The other £200,000 I will use to live on while I sail around the Med with my wife."

What high net worth individual hired this guy to be a financial adviser?

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/may/26/should-have-saved-instead-of-going-on-sailing-holidays

Sound like "You can't fix stoopid" is universal.

 

[marko]

Now granted, some may have inherited wealth and not earned it but what has always amazed me is when supposedly "educated" individuals .....doctors, lawyers, professors, etc. will just hand over their life savings to one independent financial adviser and be part of a Ponzi scheme.

Sat on a plane a while ago with a financial advisor who's company only handles family wealth above $500MM.

Had some interesting insights, one being his experience with those with inherited wealth are insanely paranoid about who manages their money. As they're aware they lack the financial smarts that helped Granpa make his fortune, they're terrified that they will become a victim similar to "American Greed" and trust absolutely no one; he finds them the hardest to work with.

I'm guessing doctors and lawyers think they know what they're doing and that can get them into trouble.

Yeah, we enjoy American Greed as a lot of the episodes seem to take place in Fort Lauderdale/Miami, where we spend our winters.

 

[ncbill]

DS settles claims for people who have totaled their cars. One real PITA he dealt with was a guy whose $75,000 Cadillac Escalade went up in smoke as a result of a fire at the place where it was being detailed. The guy was outraged that the offer wasn't enough to pay off his loan and kept reminding DS every chance he got, "I am a Certified Financial Planner".

DS said he'd never hire a CFP who was upside down on a car loan.

MY credit union offers for ~$300 gap insurance would've covered the above, plus up to $1000 of the deductible.

 

[jollystomper]

Which reminds me. In reference to high net worth individuals. Now granted, some may have inherited wealth and not earned it but what has always amazed me is when supposedly "educated" individuals .....doctors, lawyers, professors, etc. will just hand over their life savings to one independent financial adviser and be part of a Ponzi scheme. You see this all the time on CNBC's series.....American Greed.....greed on the part of the investor and greed on the part of financial adviser.
If it sounds too good to be true............

Another aspect is that some of these "educated" individuals fall into the trap of thinking they have good judgement in all matters due to their success in their field. Some "scammer FAs" know how to cater to that and first build the individual up so much that the individual is convinced that they can do no wrong and the choices they make - or rather, are lead to make - must be right.


There is also the "exclusive club" ego for scammers to prey on... making someone feel that the "offer" is special and limited to only those who have "made it"... so the target feels - particularly if they are living large on their income - that going with this is another sign of how better off they are than others.