Over the past 2 years, I have considered becoming a financial advisor because I think that there are many people out there who could use the help. If I do decide to do it, it will not be for the money. I have enough money, I do not work a job, and my investments are growing faster than I am spending. I enjoy managing my own money and I feel that I am getting better and better at it the more I work on it. But I do wonder if it would still be fun if I was responsible for someone else’s life’s savings, if I had to justify investing decisions, if I had restrictions placed on my own investing because I’m managing other people’s money also.
Chris, from my own investing experience, it would not be fun to do it for someone else. About 15 years ago, two of my doctor friends about my own age, seeing that I had been able to retire and they were still working (one is working still), asked me to manage accounts for them. It lasted just a few months. They were used to very conservative investments (bonds, bluest of blue chips, etc) and the first time that anything went down they panicked and closed the accounts.
When you invest for yourself, you know everything won’t work out perfect, you know you’ll make little mistakes, but that in the long run, it will all work out. And if it doesn’t and one year you are down, it’s your money and you know that you’ll win out in the long run. When it’s someone else money, and you have to be prepared to justify every little trade and explain why you did it, it’s a nightmare. As well as a responsibility.
If you want to have fun investing, just keep posting here. It’s been a lot of fun actually.
Saul
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