Financial Answers "IN SIMPLE LANGUAGE"

Remember watching the shark movie on television called Jaws and the music would start playing and you could sense that something ominous was about to happen?  You’re sitting there waiting for this shark to jump out of the water and bite or eat someone or something.  Well that’s what just happened.

 

Human Sharks

 

In the beautiful State of Massachusetts, whose eastern side borders the Atlantic Ocean, Massachusians are aware that there may be an occasional shark in the water.  They are also aware that there may be an occasional shark swimming on land.  Massachusians are perceptive people.

 

With all the hoopla with the likes of Bernie Madoff and R. Allen Stanford you would think that other financial crooks would be crawling back into their slimy mud holes.  Well that doesn’t seem to be the case…at least not in Massachusetts.

 

In recent weeks, federal investigators have caught several more dirtbag financial advisors-one who allegedly has stolen a paltry $60 million and another with a Ponzi scheme worth a messily $750,000.  Hardly worth mentioning or going after.  Right!  Unless it is your money.

 

It seems these two dirtbags, not working together, decided that he could steal money from trusts of wealthy Boston families-in the case of the $60 million theft-and the other dirtbag committed wire fraud by stealing $750,000 from two of his trusting clients.

 

Why Work When You Can Steal From Somebody Else

 

In the case of the $60 million theft, John Doorly, indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Boston, was in desperate need of money so he could pay off his extravagant credit card purchases, buy several houses and airplanes and take care of his mistresses.  Now that seems like a reasonable thing to do. Don’t you think?  This guy felt that if he wanted to live like his rich clients then the least they should do for all his financial advice and expertise was to let him steal from them.  So what’s the problem?  These people are wealthy anyway.  They aren’t going to miss a few million here or a few million there.

 

Then there’s Ryan Nestor, a representative with an affiliate of MassMutual Financial Group who needed a few extra bucks so he decided to help himself to $750,000 from two of his “they don’t need the money” clients.  He has been charged by Massachusetts’s investigators.

 

But my favorite is Mark Harrington, a former vice president of Anchor Capital Advisors, LLC of Boston, who allegedly ran an adult escort business on the side. It seems Mark used $368,000 from his firm’s 401k plan, allegedly, to cover losses from gambling and his divorce.  Oh yes, he also needed to buy a home for his girlfriend.  A rather creative way to pay for things.  Don’t you think?

 

The Diseased Financial Industry

 

It seems that in the State of Massachusetts and most likely in the other 49 states, that we, the American investing public, have a serious problem on our hands.  Morals and ethics have gone out the window and a rampant disease of greed has taken over.

 

In the 1987 classic movie “Wall Street” Michael Douglas playing the part of Gordon Gekko said this now infamous line “Greed is good.”  It seems that many of our financial people have taken this saying to heart.  With the enormous amounts of money that these people deal the temptation is always there.  At least that is what some financial advisors will say.

 

I am not an advocate for more government intervention and regulation on Wall Street.  We just need to enforce what we already have in place and let the financial advisors do what they honestly want to do…help you and me invest and make money the old fashioned way through trust and guidance with our financial advisor.

 

My advice to you is get to know your financial advisor both personally and professionally.  It’s no guarantee that something won’t happen but it lets you have a level of comfort that you won’t get from a stranger.

 

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