The Perils of the 10-Page Financial Plan.

Wiki Commons photo. Used with permission.

The Perils of the 10-Page Financial Plan. 
 
 
What are the perils of the 10-page (or more) financial plan? Far more than I’m listing below. But here are the main problems with it.

• You get wiped out in recessions, and perform below the market in bull runs.
• You are probably not diversified or protected.
• Your income producing stocks could be losing money (due to high fees)
• You are probably performing at or below the market (and losing money due to high fees)
• You have more at risk than you realize.

 
How? (The devil is in the details.)

• You get wiped out in recessions, and perform below the market in bull runs. Because you are not properly diversified or protected.
• You are probably not diversified or protected. Because broker-salesman often get paid higher commissions on selling you this or that fund, not on aligning themselves with your best interests. 
• Your income producing stocks could be losing money (due to high fees). Meaning that if you just had a few index-funds and paid the $9.99 trading fees charged by online discount brokers, you’d make more money. FYI: You’d still be on the Wall Street rollercoaster, losing half or more every eight years. But at least you’d perform better than the standard managed account.
• You are probably performing at or below the market (and losing money due to high fees). Be careful with broker-salesmen who try to say that they perform XYZ times higher than “the market.” Chances are this really isn’t true, particularly when you add in commissions and fees. When you compare the performance of the NASDSAQ Composite Index compared to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, you can clearly see that few salesmen are performing at the speed of the NASDAQ.
• You have more at risk than you realize. Warren Buffet says that stocks and bonds are too expensive. Alan Greenspan says that stocks and bonds are in a bubble. Most financial plans can only offer stocks and bonds. (Equities, mutual funds, index funds, REITS, etc. are stocks and bonds.)

 
Red Flags
If...

* You lost more than 30% in the Great Recession
* Your financial plan is longer than 10 pages
* You are spending more than $200 a month on health insurance, life insurance, utilities or gasoline
* You are having trouble contributing to your retirement due to high bills or high debt
* You are relying upon a pension or Social Security as your retirement plan
* Your home is worth less than your mortgage

then you could be gambling with your future. It is time to get an unbiased second opinion, outside of the bank, brokerage and accounting sphere, particularly now that we have entered the 10th year of the current bull market. Low interest rates create bubbles. The last two times the world economy went eight years without a correction, most people lost more than half of their retirement. 55% of the Dow Jones Industrial Average was lost in the Great Recession, and 78% of the NASDAQ Composite Index was lost in the Dot Com Recession (taking over 15 years to get back to even). Over 10 million homes went to auction in the wake of the Great Recession. 

You will be told to just hang on, that the markets always come back. You will not be told that when the markets come back, you are still underwater because a 10% return on $450,000 is only $45,000. If you started with a million, then it takes over a decade to get back to even, and chances are you are caught in the next devastating recession before that occurs (as happened in 2008). 
​
What’s the solution?
Why not try an unbiased second opinion from No. 1 stock picker Natalie Pace, whose easy-as-a-pie-chart nest egg strategies earned gains in both of the last two recessions and have outperformed the bull markets in between? Natalie isn’t a broker-salesman. She doesn’t sell financial products. Her goal is to empower Main Street to be the boss of your money.

Wiki Commons photo. Used with permission.

 
Blind faith in broker-salesmen, whose interests are not always in alignment with yours, has cost Americans half of their nest egg every eight years. In 2000, Dot Com investors lost 78% of their stocks. In 2008, blue chip investors lost 55% (or more). When you add in the fees and commissions charged (sometimes hidden or opaque on your statements), the losses are worse. 

When you know what a time-proven plan looks like, then you can be the boss of your money, instead of having blind faith in strangers to do the right thing (when they are often compensated to look after their own interests above yours). 
 
Wisdom is the cure.
 
Call 310-430-2397 or visit NataliePace.com to learn more. Attend the Wild West retreat to learn and implement these strategies on your own, and enjoy thousands in annual savings by using smarter budgeting, investing and energy choices. For those who used  Natalie Pace’s easy strategies  in the Great Recession, they were able to save hundreds of thousands (or millions), when most lost 55%!  ​

"College students need this information before they get their first credit card. Young adults need it before they buy their first home. Empty nesters can use the information to downsize to a sustainable lifestyle, before they get into trouble." 
Joe Moglia, Chairman, TD AMERITRADE.

"Many people, including educated men and women, often get into trouble when they 
neglect to follow simple and fundamental rules of the type provided [by Natalie]. 
This is why I recommend them with enthusiasm." 
Professor Gary S. Becker. Dr. Becker won the 1992 Nobel Prize in economics for his theories on human capital.

"My husband spoke with Natalie Pace, and after a brief discussion, she charted a plan on the back of a napkin.  I decided to take her advice.  Soon after, we had the big crash.  I was one of the few and lucky people who actually made money (instead of losing).  So, thank you Natalie, for saving my retirement!" Bill and Nilo Bolden.

Other Blogs of Interest (click on the blue link to read):

Spring Rally or Bubble Trouble?

The Truth About Tariffs.

2018 Investor IQ Test.