March 30, 2004
My 87 year-old father recently told me that he went to an advisor to reinvest some of his income so he could be guaranteed a certain percentage of his money would be sent to him every month in order to pay his expenses. My brother, who is not savvy on investing was with him. When I asked my father what the broker was being paid for his investment advice, my father did not know. My Dad is a very bright man, but at this point in his life, he is interested only in being able to pay his monthly bills and have a small amount of money to spend if he wishes. If he had been presented with information regarding the costs and perhaps conflicts of interest, he may have made other decisions. I strongly feel that the dissemination of such information is necessary and fair