Why the financial industry likes to complicate investing?

The financial industry makes sure that investing is very complicated, too complicated even. There are thousands of products with strange names (even the guys selling these products are not entirely sure of what they mean). Let me give you a few examples:

• Collateralized mortgage obligations
• Social Impact Bonds
• Leveraged index funds
• Weather Derivatives
• REITs
• Collateralized debt obligations

There are millions of options where you can invest your money. Similarly, there are millions of “expert” opinions on what to invest in and which strategies to use.

So for 99.9% of people, this is just too complicated and they think: “This is just not for me. I know that I need to invest, but I can’t do it by myself. I will visit a financial adviser, and he will take good care of my money.”
And guess what happens then?

And then they go and read what the Wall Street Journal says, “Even if you know the basics, it’s a comfort to know that you have someone keeping watch over your money.”

Right?

Wrong!

I believe that investing is very simple…

…it’s the financial industry that wants us to believe it’s complex.

Of course, if it’s complex and people believe that they cannot do it by themselves, then they just give their money to the financial advisers, managers and planners to manage it for them.

And guess what happens then?

Financial advisers will sell them the products where the financial industry, and in many cases themselves, will profit the most.

And the investor loses once again.

Never let somebody else control your money!

In personal finance, there is one key rule: the person who controls the money wins.

What the Wall Street Journal should really say then is: “Is it really comforting to have somebody take your hard-earned money – without you even knowing it?”

Or like Mark Hanna put it in The Wolf of Wall Street, “The name of the game: moving the money from your client’s pocket to your pocket.”