Can You Ever Trust Your Financial Advisor Again?

Nov. 18, 2008 - PRLog -- (ALISO VIEJO, CA)—Millions of Americans have seen their wealth vanish into thin air during the stock market collapse. Many blame the financial advisors and brokers who sold them on the stock market as a place to secure their retirements.
So, should you trust your financial advisor to do what’s best for you?  
James Burns, author of the new book The 3 Secret Pillars of Wealth: How to Crack Your Wealth Code Using the Tools of the Self-made Billionaires, believes that many financial advisors sell their clients on products the advisors themselves don’t really understand.
“An example is indexed life insurance,” says Burns. “It’s hard for people to find an advisor who really understands the implications of this investment tool and how powerful it can be when you overfund it and then borrow against it tax-free.”
Burns said he believes that the current financial crisis will eventually force many in the financial sector to work harder for the trust of their clients, and consequently learn more about the products they offer.
In The 3 Secret Pillars of Wealth, Burns recommends the following steps for investors who are wary of being misled by financial advisors:
 Use technology to your advantage. If an advisor offers webinars or podcasts, review them before signing on.
 Learn how to calculate the costs and returns of potential investments and look at each potential pitfall when considering an investment.
 Learn how to disregard conventional wisdom when your own research opposes it.
 Take into consideration how your financial advisor gets paid. If they earn their money from signing up new clients they may not have your interests at heart.

“There are trustworthy financial advisors out there,” says Burns. “But I think investors are learning the hard way that not everyone who claims to be a financial advisor really knows what they’re doing. The best defense against these people is research and a sense of ownership on the part of the investor.”

An attorney and a former member of the United States Marine Corps Force Recon, James Burns has two degrees in law and one in taxation and international tax. He has over seventeen years of combined financial, real estate and legal experience.  

For more information, contact the author directly at Jambur64@cox.net.

White Diamond Press and author James Burns chose Arbor Books, Inc. (www.ArborBooks.com) to design and promote The 3 Secret Pillars of Wealth: How to Crack Your Wealth Code Using the Tools of the Self-made Billionaires. Arbor Books is an internationally renowned, full-service book design, ghostwriting and marketing firm.  

(The 3 Secret Pillars of Wealth: How to Crack your Wealth Code Using the Tools of the Self-made Billionaires by James Burns; ISBN: 0-9801620-0-9; $19.95; 193 pages; 5½” x 8½”; softcover; WHITE DIAMOND PRESS)