A Good Deed Opportunity

So, after reading

Understand Your Investments,

you took a look at your investments in your 401(k) and elsewhere and now have a better idea of whether you are invested in low-cost, market tracking indexes, load funds that charge an up-front commission in addition to high annual expenses, or some insurance product that has huge annual fees in addition to egregious surrender charges.  Most of you doing this for the first time will see the need to make changes, and these changes will be meaningful in the long run.

When I say "meaningful," I mean 6-figure income meaningful for younger people--once the light bulb goes on and they stop letting the financial services industry jerk them around and take over the reins themselves.  For most people to get to this point is easy.  Read

Millionaire Teacher by Andrew Hallam

or a similar book on the basics of low-cost investing.  I don't want to over-dramatize this issue; but, for many people, reading and understanding this book will put them on a path that will enable them to retire a few years earlier or live a fuller retirement, depending on what they choose.  Failing to understand the basic principles laid out by Andrew will mean a goodly portion of their "nest egg" will end up in the nest egg of the big 401(k) providers and reps of other investment banks.

So what else can you do once you get the basic points and you've set up your investments appropriately?  Well, here is your "good deed" opportunity.  I understand you aren't an investment advisor.  You haven't passed the Series 65 exam and haven't registered by filing the ADV form.  You are not in a position to provide investment advice and receive compensation for it.  But how about another step?  Why not recommend Andrew's  book to others?  When you hear people complaining about their investments or mentioning that their advisor doesn't return their calls, ask them if they know the importance of advisory fees and fund fees over long periods of time.  Suggest to them that they can possibly save a lot by doing the investing themselves and that it is not that difficult.  Again, recommend Andrew's book or one that is similar.

One way to introduce this subject to family members is to ask who their 401(k) provider is.  I will bet you that their response will be something like "My provider is Fidelity, but they have so many funds that I have no clue on which to choose and how much to put in each."  Sometimes this is followed up with "So, I just have all my funds in the money market fund."  Ooch!!!

For most people, taking 2 weekends and reading Millionaire Teacher will significantly improve their lives and they will thank you for recommending it.