Wall Street has many messages for people who are or who may become its customers:
- “We help people, businesses and institutions build, preserve and manage wealth so they can pursue their financial goals.”
- “Our processes are finely tuned, deliberate, time-tested and risk-aware, all in the mission to achieve sustainable, above-market results.”
- “Investment professionals design and manage a portfolio aligned to your goals…”
These messages are designed to make you believe you really need the services of their highly trained, often highly compensated professionals. To be sure, some folks can do very well using such services. But when you do so, you’ll often be paying a not-insignificant fee — perhaps 1% or more of your invested assets, every year. If the company is managing, say, $200,000 for you, it may be collecting $2,000 or more from you every year. Over 10 years, that’s $20,000.
But keep in mind a few things about financial professionals…
This post originally appeared at The Motley Fool.