Posted on 05/27/2011 2:30:30 PM PDT by KeyLargo
May 27, 2011, 12:01 a.m. EDT
Why men are easy prey for investment scams Know if you’re vulnerable to fraud and protect yourself
By Robert Powell, MarketWatch
BOSTON (MarketWatch) — As someone whose family was affected personally by the Bernie Madoff scheme, and as someone who knew Brad Bleidt, a Boston-based scam artist who misdeeds preceded Madoff’s, I’m deeply concerned about the issue of investment fraud.
So, too, is John Gannon, the president of the Education Foundation at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, known as Finra. Gannon was among those who spoke this week at Boston University’s Future of Lifecycle Saving & Investing Conference to talk about the state of financial literacy in the U.S.
Gannon didn’t come to talk specifically about financial education, but rather the state of investment fraud in the U.S., who’s at risk of being defrauded, the tactics being used to separate honest hard-working American investors from their money, and what individuals can do to prevent themselves from being fleeced by the likes of a Madoff or Bleidt.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
I take investment advice only from blonds with small waist and large breast who wears short dress suits.
I dream of the day work can be a choice instead of a necessity.
The day that’s going to happen is the day they bury you.
Glad to know I’m not the only one!
The article doesn’t mention this, but I find it very helpful to do a public records search on the people or companies who are pitching an investment or business venture. Court records, recorded documents, tax records, and state corporate records are especially helpful. If your records search reveals that the smooth-talking guy with the BMW and posh office has a bunch of lawsuits, judgments, tax liens, defunct corporations, big debts, etc. on his record, RUN away as fast as you can.
If you develop an attitude of paying yourself before you pay anyone else you will make it. By that I mean take a percentage of your income 5%, 10 % whatever and pay yourself first with every paycheck.
Put that 5% in a savings account that is ONLY for investing. Then determine what you want to invest in, stock market, mutual funds, options, real estate, whatever. Learn about that area of business and how to safely invest in it. Practice on paper for a year or two. mistakes on paper are easy to sleep with, the actual ones hurt. Learn where the cycles are and why they occur. Learn about the tax consequences of your actions ahead of time.
When you are making a steady profit on paper you are ready to invest. Invest 90% is solid gramma type investments with 10% in high risk. When your 10% has doubled, sell 50% of it. What you’ve done is now you are investing in high risk with someone elses money. Put the original 10% into the safe solid gramma type investments areas. Keep playing 10% in high risk as long as it is in a growth cycle. Get out of the high risk area when the loss cycle swings around.
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