If you can't beat them, join them.

I have always loved the saying, If you can't beat'em, join'em. It doesn't apply in all areas of life, but in some cases it may make more sense than fighting multiple Goliaths as a lowly David. Last week a client of mine shared a video with me from the research of a Harvard Professor. In the research the professor discusses some mind shattering statistics and also shares our collective perception of the rich. What is shown is so mind blowing it is hard to really grasp.

What if you were David and you were asked not to fight Goliath, but to fight thousands of Goliaths all at the same time? This is what investing on your own is like these days. In this video it talks about how the wealthiest families in America, the top 1% own 50% of the Stocks, Bonds and Mutual Funds. While the bottom 50% own .5%.

If you had 100 people in a room, 1 person would hold 50% off all of the retirement playing chips. 50 of the 100 if they all banded together would hold half of 1 retirement chip. That is crazy! No wonder we see such large positive and negative swings in the market. A very small body of people control how the markets move.

Since 401k's and IRA's became the number one savings vehicle for the majority of Americans, they have put themselves on the battleground with these large stakes players. Now I am all for cheering on the under dog and hoping the little guy wins. In the grand scheme of money I am still a little guy like most Americans. However, in this case we aren't talking about a fight or a race, we are talking about your retirement. You only get one shot at getting this right. Those that get to retirement age and decide they need to start over are too late usually. This is not a game you goof around with.

I talk with people on a regular basis that will never be able to retire. They know it and they know I know it. They have simply run out of time or they took too big of risk with their money, only to have it not pan out well. I talk with people that let the HR person that makes $10 an hour tell them how to properly fund their retirement and that person learned it from the company managing the money. At what point do you look out for your own best interest? At what point do you take the reigns of your future?

Some people see lost money. I see lost money, but worse, lost time.

 For many people it is not too late. They simply need to get educated, take control and get their money into a winning strategy. There are 3 major killers of wealth:
1. Losing money
2. Inflation and rising cost of living
3. Taxes

Of the common strategies for creating a stream of tax free money, which are you using now?
What percentage of your money do you have in protected strategies that can't lose money?
How much of your portfolio do you currently have in strategies that can't safely get double digit returns?

These are some great questions to ask yourself. I find questions are better than answers because they make you think and stretch and reevaluate. There are incredible companies out there that own the other 49.5% of the Stocks, Bonds and Mutual Funds. Companies that have been around since before the Stock Market and have strategies that protect you against loss, have potential double digit returns and don't risk throwing your money out the window ever few years as the market rides up and down.

The question isn't should you be in our out of the market, but how much should you have in the market? If the lions share is in 401k's and IRA's that are in the market, then the lion's share is at risk for loss. I don't share these things to motivate people, but to educate people. We don't need motivation or someone to inspire us. We need educations and understanding. We need knowledge. Knowledge is power, knowledge is what helps people make good decisions with proper information. I have much to share with you, if you're interested. At times I ask too much reading and studying of my clients, but in the end they thank me because their money is safe and they understand how it is going to grow and be protected.

Cheers,

Stephen Gardner