I Fired My Stock Broker Today.....

I'm with @jwitten , please, under no circumstances should you feel sorry for me. Nor for any family member I've guided successfully.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

It seems that you wouldn't make a dime. From what I see on daily basis, no one is interested in common sense.

I've made more money with guns and ammo over the years than I have in the stock market. And, buying cheap land and reselling.

 

I bailed out of the recommended Sales from STOCK BROKERS recommended stocks to buy and the sales pitches they give as I always lost money in those good deals. I switched to Edward Jones he rarely recommends anything. Seems at least this "Advisor" only advises me, won't buy unless we sit face to face--"No over the phone sales is their policy or at least his. Being retired @ 80 now, with a 34K Alimony.
DO NOT GET DIVORCED IN FLORIDA, He and I built together through my needs and goals what I call a self-made IRA account of about 30 issues to invest in with the limited funds I have and except for the 1st year when I entered the Market in October however since then my portfolio has increased 20% since even in the downturn last year I still made it out with a large plus. I really like the approach to their market ideas especially the no phone sales. In today's high-tech world you might even set up a zoom-like call there are so many out there, and demand he uses it. Fortunately, my Edward Jones Guy only lives 6 miles away. Think about it.

 

I remember Merrill-Lynch. My first and only attempt at getting "professional" financial advice. That professional fellow went over to UBS (U Bin Screwed) and I followed. Always knew when his boat payment was due though. When the market got sick (2000?), he went back to whole-selling used cars. Been on my own at Ameritrade ever since. Not great returns but at least I know my own agenda but then I have the security of a Gov't pension and the TSP and a couple of IRAs and some gold and SF-area house valuations. Let's me dabble in coins.

 

I was a controller for a company in the 80's when the stock market dipped. My boss blamed me for not telling me that the stock market would have a severe drop. In order to avoid problems, you really need a good, if not great, relationship with your brokers. I applaud those of you that have the ability to invest and stay involved in the value of your holdings, but, as mentioned earlier, don't invest and leave everything up to your broker. You are not their only client.

 

Investing is really pretty easy! Save your money, start early, don't delegate your monetary policy to an unconcerned party (read that as broker) and be serious about your future. No Load mutual funds are a great vehicle. I've never earned a lot of money, but we always saved. Read and learn. My go to resources are, in no particular order - Morningstar - Kiplinger Personal Finance - No Load Fund newsletter. The first one is free thanks to T Rowe Price, the next two are subscriptions. Make a plan and stick to it. Good luck!

 

I've been happily associated with Charles Schwab for decades - I do my own research, self-direct my investments (brokerage and Roth IRA) and enjoy modest but steady returns on investments - most of my holdings are ETFs and mutual funds in addition to a handful of dividend paying industry leaders - no commissions or transaction fees for stock and mutual fund trades are an added benefit, as I keep more money for myself and pay no one for financial advice.
My advice: seek to get rich slowly by prudent investing; don't try for the 'home run' speculation, you'll probably strike out

 

.

 

.

 

If you don't understand risk/reward and how to evaluate investments stick w/ mutual funds, ETFs or stuffing your cash under the pillow or in PMs.
I haven't worked in eleven years because I live off my investments.
Don't blame Merrill Lynch or other brokers for the poor decisions made by the investor.

 

One of the best investments is paying off everything and living debt-free.

 

One of my older relatives took up day-trading in retirement. As he described it, "buy things that are going up, sell things that are going down."

Problem is, you can't know whether something is going up or down, only that it has gone up or down. So that advice basically boils down to "buy something after its price has gone up, sell it after its price has gone down." Doesn't sound so great, does it?

I'm not rich. I'm not as rich as some of my former co-workers who traded more aggressively. Not as poor as some of them, though, either. I rode out 2001 and 2008 and 2020. In each case, I could have done better if I'd known when the top and bottom were in -- but I did better than those who capitulated and sold at the bottom. And in each case, I was glad that I was making automatic 401(k) buys every month during the doldrums.

Those stocks that lost $7.5K in a couple of days -- now that you've cashed them in, how much have they gone up today?

 

I am so sorry to hear of your costly experience.

I am also with the same brokerage.

My broker and I agree on a long-term panic-free approach. The market took a dive several times over my career: dot com bubble, housing bubble, covid crash, and even the occasional expected 10% correction now and again.

The best course has been to keep investing via my 401K at a steady pace. I always took advantage of company matching to increase my own contributions. And I kept at it, increasing the percentage whenever I got a raise. For a long while I put in 12 percent and had matching contributions of another 10.

But I have stayed the course. I went way down last March on the corona scare, but let it ride. I have gained back twice as much.

My broker and I agree on a long-term goal and there is no reaction to short term events. He put me into no load bond ladders and set up a no-load stock portfolio that mimics the more costly mutual funds. He is well worth the money.

This has given me an expected retirement income that is greater than my actual current income. I could retire today and get a raise!

But if you have a mindset that you cannot stomach a brief correction of even a few days, you should sign up for the online interface. You can sell off your stock if you get jittery. But you shouldn’t.

You should have received guidance through email, as I did, about their projections for growth in the coming year, and you may have decided to hold steady. I did, and today my net worth reached a new lifetime high. I just had to wait a week for the market to straighten out again.

I am not belittling your loss or the emotional impact it had on you both. But I offer my experience if it helps you, or anyone, in the future.

 

You don't lose any $$$ unless you sell. If your investments were based on the good fundamentals of a company or companies it really shouldn't matter what the market does day to day. Go to GOOGLE and type in "DJIA". Look at the line for the last five(5) years. If you can look at the line since 2009.

For the short time I was a broker (PaineWebber) I would have my clients actually buy more of what they liked when things were down. Big $$$ players could/should have made fortunes off Mr.PumpkinHead every time he made some stupid tweet about how bad some company was. After it dropped they bought the bageebies out of it so when he made up with them the stock price went up like morning wood.

The market always comes back.

 

It's actually been incredibly predictable since covid started. You didn't need a crystal ball to know lock-downs meant oil, casinos, cruise ships, hotels, airlines were going to crash. Or that Amazon, and netflix were going to soar with people stuck at home. Or that as things opened and later in the year oil, cruise ships, airlines, casinos were all going to see huge gains from when they crashed.

The problem is that most people sell towards bottom panicking when they should be buying more

 

Sales take place immediately, settlement is T+2 (trade date + 2 days).

Make sure everything you wanted sold on the day of execution is cash 2 days later.

 

I have contacted the manager that oversees my broker, the words they dont
want hear...SEC ...LOL, I think that will light a fire under someones _ _ _

 

They did that, but I was trying to get ahold of by broker for 3 days as the market
slipped, now my money is setting in an income account doing nothing, and the
past week the market has exploded but it could of went the other way to, if I had
magic powers I could predict the future...LOL

 

Hold on there, what's an advisor suppose to do, what's his role ? to advise right
if he's unreachable to give advice like in this case, what am I paying him for..LOL