Mistakes people make when hiring advisors
Here we go again: Another high-profile advisor who turns out to be a crook.
Kenneth Ira Starr, a New York investment adviser with a roster of celebrity clients, was charged by the U.S. government of orchestrating a $30 million fraud.
According to the federal complaint, Starr allegedly used his clients' money to buy luxury items for himself, including a new $7.5 million apartment in Manhattan.
In addition to Hollywood VIPs like Martin Scorsese, Wesley Snipes, and Uma Thurman, Mr. Starr's other clients included lawyers and hedge fund managers.
These celebrities and those swindled by the likes of Bernie Madoff and Earl Jones all thought their advisors were stand-up guys and likely got their name from a friend or relative whom they trust, observes Chuck Jaffe, author of Getting Started in Finding a Financial Advisor.
That connection colours their judgment, he maintains, largely because of their feelings towards the person making the referral, or the way they envision Starr and other like him helping them live the lifestyle they see their would-be buddies enjoying.
According to Jaffe, the other common mistakes investors make when hiring a financial advisor include the following:
* Interviewing just one candidate
* Doing too little background or reference checking
* Focusing too much on cost or payment style
* Overestimating the value of credentials and designations
* Setting expectations and viewing results based entirely on returns
* Letting the advisor control everything
Don’t make these same mistakes, warns Preet Banerjee, of the Wheredoesallmymoneygo blog. Take a few minutes and do some digging, he suggests, all the while providing a really detailed list of where to go for help.
Banerjee has also developed a tool for you to use while interviewing prospective advisors. The 20-question quiz also includes a “Smell Test” designed to weed out advisors who are likely to promise more than they deliver.
Have you made similar mistakes with advisors? Or are you one of the lucky ones who has been getting sound advice?
By Gordon Powers, MSN Money
Posted by: Zakimar | Jun 2, 2021 10:54:34 AM
When will people learn not to trust these dual citizen jews with their money? There only loyalty is to Israel, where most of Madoff's money went too. And btw, ALL the heads of the Financial Institutions that took TAXPAYER money were (and still are) dual citizen jews as are ALL five on the Board of the Federal Reserve and Geithner and Summers at the Treasury. These people will bankrupt the USA and then the jew banks around the world will buy up OUR country cheap.