Who Controls the Wealth? As we all know, the people in the top 10% (or less) tend to be bankers, financial managers, and others controlling the flow of money. And control it they do – right into their own pockets. Yet, after repeatedly losing money when others control it, most people continue plowing money into the high-risk stock market, or for the risk-adverse into saving accounts paying almost zero interest.
What We Learned From Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Wall Street began in September 2011 in New York City’s Wall Street financial district. It fought against economic inequality and Wall Street greed. It became a contagious protest spreading to 82 countries. Touting themselves as the 99%, they protested against greed and corruption, particularly by the financial services sector.
The slogan “We are the 99%” is argued to be the most successful slogan since “Hell no, we won’t go!'” of the Vietnam War era. Although the movement may have run its course, there is one noteworthy quote worth repeating:
These people aren’t protesting money. They’re not protesting banking. They’re protesting corruption on Wall Street. – Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone
Just as noteworthy, is that Solo 401k accounts were making news in the Wall Street Journal just a few short months before the Occupy Wall Street movement took hold. The point is that you and the rest of the 99% do have alternatives to Wall Street greed by taking your investments off Wall Street and onto Main Street.
Wall Street Greed Siphons Billions From Retirees
You hear about the big Wall Street rip off schemes like Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme (former non-executive chairman of the NASDAQ stock market) or the Enron scandal syphoning as much as $40 billion into the pockets of Kenneth Lay, Jeffrey Skilling, Andrew Fastow, and other top executives. Complicity in the Enron mess caused the dissolution of Arthur Andersen (one of the top five audit and accounting firms). But these are merely the biggest names caught in the ongoing Wall Street greed game that has no beginning and no end.
What about the average financial planner handling a few thousand retirement accounts invested on Wall Street? Brokers working strictly for commissions. Why would a Wall Street broker push people’s retirements into financial insecurity? Could it be the high commissions?
An average person might have a moderate $355,000 in a corporate 401k when the big retirement day arrives. Not knowing much about how to invest it after retirement, he asks family and friends for references and maybe does a little research of his own. Soon he feels pressured to make a decision. Thinking the only thing he can invest in are Wall Street stocks and bonds, he crosses his fingers and picks an advisor. The advice is to invest in a combination of a variable annuity, an S&P 500 indexed mutual fund, and a few high risk but promising corporate stocks.
Fees, Fees, Fees
That run of the mill investment advice comes without any guarantees. What it does come with is a 7% commission paid to the broker to make the investments. That’s a $25,000 commission for run of the mill advice. The next day, the same broker gives the same advice to another retiree with $800,000 to invest. This time the commission amounts to $56,000 for the same advice, same amount of analysis, same amount of work to electronically transfer funds from one portfolio to a new portfolio.
Again, why does a Wall Street broker push people’s retirements into financial insecurity? But this time also ask why the broker collects more than twice the commission for the same work? Answer: Because it’s the only way he/she makes money, it’s perfectly legal, and she/he makes a killing at it.
That is only the most visible and obvious scheme to separate the 99% from their retirement funds. There are other Ponzi schemes, account churning, and added “markup” fees going on constantly. Not to mention the real criminal brokers who just plain steal the money and flee to a Caribbean Island.
Ready to take control of your financial future?
Follow these links for other very real examples of how Wall Street greed walks away with billions of retirement dollars every year:
- How Wall Street Is Fighting to Rip Off Your Retirement Money
- Is Wall Street Eating Your 401(k) Nest Egg?
- A Wall Street Coup
And then read our blog, “The Retirement Crisis (An Economic Catastrophe?)”
Who is the Solo 401k is For?
A Solo 401k is for everyone wanting full control of his or her retirement funds. It’s for people understanding that no one else is more concerned about their financial future than they are themselves. It’s for small business owners, self-employed people, independent contractors, and those working the “gig” economy.
With a Solo 401k, you can leave Wall Street greed far behind to take control of your retirement investing yourself. No one cares more about your money than you do. The Wall Street titans have demonstrated year after year that they are more interested in lining their own pockets than helping you secure your retirement.
This is a good time to remind you to seek out qualified counsel. Whether it’s from an accountant, an attorney, or your brother-in-law, find someone who understands your circumstances, what you want to accomplish, and understands the concepts and practices a Solo 401k offers you. Once you do that – take action. Failing to take action is the biggest cause of failure. You can’t succeed if you don’t take action but you will almost certainly fail if you don’t take action.
Even when you seek advice, it’s critical that you remain an independent thinker. You can’t blame others for what you do or do not know. You can’t blindly follow anyone that comes along with another get rich quick scheme. The only one that’s going to get rich is the one pushing the scheme.
Know Your Alternatives
You need to look at all of your alternatives. You need to look for alternatives that others haven’t yet discovered.
And that is where an entrepreneurial mindset and distrust of big business and big government comes from. Daily, people are bombarded with semi-truths and downright false information coming from the powers that be. Telling us what is best for us, according to them.
But when you dig deeper into the facts, what you find is that you are being told what is good for the big guys but seldom good for Joe & Josephine Q. Public.
The right information makes you more independent and develops an entrepreneurial attitude towards securing your investing future.
What a Solo 401k can do for you:
- Kick Wall Street out of your retirement planning and let them back in only if/when it makes sense for you.
- Choose exactly the type of investments that you want with almost no limitations, including real estate, mortgages, precious metals, closely held businesses, private placements, and nearly anything else!
- Build true generational wealth by passing on the remainder of your Solo 401k so your heirs enjoy a lifetime of tax-free income!
There are real reasons why Wall Street brokers limit what you can invest in. The biggest reason is that they earn commissions for their advice. Make no mistake about it, they’re in this to line their own pockets. Many financial advisors push financial products on you to earn them the highest commission rather than earn you the highest return on your investment.
Have questions about the Solo 401k? The experts at Nabers group will help you get your retirement funds into your control, where they belong.
