About five years ago in Sacramento, I was introduced to a large crowd in an auditorium as I approached the stage to give my keynote address.
"Our next speaker is a radio host, author, and former actor...."
Huh?
I'm not a former actor, as long as we're not including school plays.
Fast forward to today's (9/18/18) Indianapolis Star: Pete the Planner named top Money Manager in Indianapolis.
Huh?
I'm not a Money Manager.
There is an actual profession which manages people's investments. That profession is a called a Money Manager. I do not do that. Here's how Investopedia defines Money Manager:
A money manager is a person or financial firm that manages the securities portfolio of an individual or institutional investor. Typically, a money manager employs people with various expertise ranging from research and selection of investment options to monitoring the assets and deciding when to sell them.
In return for a fee, the money manager has the fiduciary duty to choose and manage investments prudently for his or her clients, including developing an appropriate investment strategy, and buying and selling securities to meet those goals. A money manager may also be known as a "portfolio manager" or "investment manager." Examples of leading money managers include Vanguard Group Inc., Pacific Investment Management Co. (PIMCO) and J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
I don't fault the Indianapolis Star; they did nothing wrong. They simply asked thousands of people a question, and thousands of people were confused. This is bad. This is bad for actual Money Managers, the financial industry in general, and sadly, the public.
Money Managers
If I were an actual Money Manager, I'd be mad that the CEO of a Financial Wellness company was just voted as the best at doing something he doesn't actually do. It's worth trying to ascertain who's at fault. Can you really be mad at the general public for misunderstanding what you do? I'd argue Money Managers haven't done a good enough job defining what they do.
Financial Industry
Back in the day when I was a financial advisor, I realized the financial industry doesn't have a method to both incentivize and compensate financial advisors to help those who need help the most. Why? Well, obviously those people don't have enough
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