Originally posted on February 3, 2021.
Are you aligned with a money gathering business, or are you aligned with a money manager? The money-gathering business is all about bigness. They tell you all about how big they are when all you care about is, “how are you going to help me?”
Welcome to the world where being big—whether it’s big tech or big money—makes you just a cog in the wheel. Where, for example, you sign up for Facebook or use Google for “free” and come to realize, “anything that’s free means I’m the product.” They’re selling you out. It’s no different from when money guys look to upsell you down the river.
Look at the money flows. The largest investment firms are consolidating power. They’re getting larger and sell you free products all day long. Really? How much of your financial story do you want to tell them in exchange for being sold out? Do you have any idea what they’re saying behind your back? They’re looking at you like a commodity.
Why is it that when you sign up for a “free” study on annuities, do you feel like all of a sudden you’re part of a fishing expedition—you’re the fish? And then they sink their teeth into you and NEVER leave you alone until you relent and say, “What the hell, maybe I’ll become a client. At the very least, my phone will stop ringing.”
Or they try to be more creative—planning your life and telling you they’re a fiduciary looking out for your best interests. But when you become a client, they get creative, and the next thing you know, you’re paying his fee, then another layer of fees on his ETFs, and talking with a phone rep who lives miles away from the mothership. Sound like a trip you want to take? Hardly.
One of the benefits of working with someone you know—like me—or with a family business—is there’s never any pressure to get bigger, and bigger, and bigger—nor will there ever be. A family, as we all know, operates much like your own, with a small, fixed number of mouths to feed. That’s just the biology of it or the science—science actually worth following.
Don’t fall for the bigness. Don’t think you’ll be treated bigly. Remember, trust is earned. It’s not some throwaway line in a piece of literature. It’s a gut feeling. Is the person you’re talking with fishing for you or trying to be creative with your money? Stick to your roots. There’s a reason family always comes first.
Action Line: Don’t be hunted by a fisherman. Don’t let them be creative in planning what to do with your money. Break free and get aligned with your roots—you know, a FAMILY.
