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Health & Fitness

Patch Blog: The Financial Education Series

The Financial Education Series will be held Sept. 13. Your questions shape the agenda.

Forbes has used my Detroit/Wall Street analogy. And I couldn't be happier. Just this week, they ran an article by Charlotte Beyer titled, "Clients Want A Real Adviser, Not A Salesman."

Beyer does a wonderful job describing what a financial advisor does and doesn't do. It is a primer on how to find an advisor, what to look for, what to expect. This is serious bookmark material. She cites a case where "one baby-boomer investor, upon receiving a sizable inheritance, bemoaned, 'I have almost zero understanding of finance, never an interest of mine, nor did I feel compelled to know.' An investor seeking advice faces a phalanx of salesmen, too many of whom see the investor as ‘assets to be gathered’ or worse, the next commission check."  

I couldn't agree more. This story needs to be told and retold. "Wall Street is fundamentally the same as Detroit. Detroit manufactures and distributes automobiles. Wall Street manufactures and distributes financial products. The difference is you don’t expect to be talking to someone who is looking out for your best interest when you are in a dealer show room," is how I closed my 7/2/2011 post.

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It looks like it's getting pretty good mileage.

<<  The Financial Education Series will be held on Tuesday, September 13, 2011 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. in the of the . Admission is free but you must register. Your questions shape the agenda. More information here

Find out what's happening in South Pasadenawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Financial Education Series is not sponsored by the South Pasadena Public Library or the City of South Pasadena.>>

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