Are we financially literate?

Investors want their financial planners to be obliged by law to obtain their written permission every two years to continue or not with their agreed level of fees and commissions. The currently proposed new legislation removes this obligation and is clearly wrong. After all, everyone has the right to change their insurance policies every year. They must be entitled to do likewise with their financial advisers.

Another proposed legislative change will make it easy for financial advisers and planners to avoid legal action by investors over the losses they incur. While I basically object to people going to Court over losses in investments, because all investors must accept the possibility that they may lose their money at any time, they do need some capacity to sue corrupt entities like Storm Financial and obtain justice.

There is a strong tendency for financial advisers to recommend investments that earn them the highest commissions. We need legislation that sets a ceiling on what fees and commissions can be earned and which requires a disclosure of those fees and commissions to clients.

The powerful question relates to how it can be assured that advisers act in the best interests of their clients, not themselves. Proposed legislative changes give an unacceptable leniency in how to determine the best interests of a client. This is not good, as the needs vary from one person to another and each one has different financial imperatives.

Rather than change legislation, it will be best to encourage banks and other financial institutions to create new financial products for the Ageing, as most Seniors want to invest in products that will guarantee them a reasonable financial return for the term of their life expectancy. There are very few investments that meet this need.

If the proposed changes do become law, there will be a very considerable backlash from Seniors, many of whom will decide to handle their investments without seeking financial advice, and this will lead to many more personal disasters.

I will do my best to encourage the four banks in which I am an investor to voluntarily break with any such legislation and guarantee their customers the security they want and deserve through the provision of innovative investments of integrity and security.

The bank that takes this initiative will earn a lot of money.