Monday, July 28, 2008

Investment charges

An anonymous reader wrote:

"I received this letter my company's 401K provider, It was supposed to convince me to sign up with AdviceTrack, and give them another half-percent of my retirement funds so that they could manage my investments for me.

The chart, however, isn't very convincing. If I continue to manage my funds myself, I end up with $76,564 a year. If I let their experts manage my funds for me, I get a whopping $67,619 - or, $9,000 less. Glad I'm not an expert."

http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/The-Investment-Experts.aspx

Lesson: This anonymous reader did read and understand the brochure, which gave honest information. He decided to invest on his own. Many people may not be aware about the charges and sign up to use the advertised service.

The same situation applies to many people who buy high cost life insurance and structured financial products.