One important side effect of investing for income is that you're largely immune from the hordes of scammers, rip off artists, fast talkers and overpaid "suits" that make up the financial services industry.
Where money is flowing, somebody wants to grab part of it, and more money flows into and out of the financial markets than anywhere outside of government. So it's no surprise that many people have their hands out.
You have to take a very hard look at them, and always remember that they are getting rich from YOUR money.
You Must Pay Something -- But Stop Paying Too Much
It's also true that we can't expect anything in life to come free. When you want to buy a financial security -- whether bond, stock or mutual fund share -- you have to pay something for it, and for the services of people who hold that in custody for you.
What I'm saying is that stockbrokers aren't slaves, and you can't expect them to buy shares for you for free. So they are due a commission. Thirty-five years ago, their commissions were exorbitant by today's standards. Since the SEC made commissions competitive in 1975, discount brokers such as Charles Schwab, and now super discount brokers such as most of the online companies, have greatly reduced the cost of buying stocks. And that is good.
And if you put your money into a mutual fund, you do have to pay SOMETHING for that 800 number customer service line, your monthly statements, for the manager and so on. Even the most cost-conscious mutual fund family in existence -- Vanguard -- has to take some money to pay their expenses. Their talented employees are making more money than you and I do, but it's not the vast fortune other fund families pay, and we can't expect them to work for minimum wage.
But everything else is negotiable, and a lot more disposable than many investors realize.
Stop Paying for Useless Financial Advice
People have been charging for their stock advice for a gazillion years. Some of these people are "official" -- they're called "analysts," and brokerages and investment banks pay them large salaries to analyze companies and evaluate their stock values. They don't make as much as successful brokers and mutual fund managers, but they receive upwards to seven figures or more, and during the 1990s some of them became media stars and made small fortunes telling you to buy Internet stocks.
Other advisers are tell wealthy people where to invest their money. Some tell ordinary people where to invest their money. Some have the title of "financial adviser" and some just play that role. Some of them are on TV, write for newspapers and magazines, have their own radio or television shows, and write books.
Some of them publish their own newsletters giving financial advice. There are close to 100 of these. Many are published by companies that specialize in mail order (and now Internet) direct sales. Some of them accept money from small companies to promote the company to their readers. Some are fanatical true-believers in some style or technique of stock market prediction, such as gold or the Dow Theory.
They Have the Freedom to Express Their Opinions -- You Don't Have to Pay to Hear Them
Now, I'm a great believer in the First Amendment, free speech and the free market. And some of these newsletters are entertaining to read for their predictions of the future and world events, and they can inform you of interesting trends, especially in technology and foreign affairs.
However, countless academic studies have proven that NONE of these advisers can accurately predict the course of the stock market in the long run, or pick winning stocks.
This is just as true of the pin-striped "analyst" as it is of the adviser or broker who goes to your church and of the newsletter publisher wanting you to subscribe.
Do yourself a favor. The next time you're tempted to pay a financial adviser, or charge $49 for a trial subscription to a newsletter, or open up an account with a mutual fund in any fund family besides Vanguard, add that cash to your investing for income account instead.
Author Information: You too can collect higher dividends and interest from investing. Click here to get the information you need to effectively make money from your investments whether the markets go up or down. If you're ready to discover how investing for income can help you retire with financial security, visit this page, enter your email address into the form and click on the Submit Button. Then go to your inbox and verify that. It's free for the taking. http://www.incomeinvesthome.com/. coupon hostgator
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