This is the first of a series in which The Epoch Times will publish, chapter by chapter, the book The Secrets of Successful Financial Planning: Inside Tips From an Expert, by Dan Gallagher.
Introduction
For more than three decades, until my December 2017 retirement, I’ve asked clients about the financial strategies and experiences they had prior to our engagements. Roughly two-thirds had obtained great professional guidance, but had switched because of retiring advisors or a change of residence. However, about one-third of my clients had one of three problems that kept surfacing: They did little to no planning, ignoring professional advice but occasionally taking ideas from magazine articles or other impersonal sources.
They diligently planned, using self-help books or software that offered strategies that were not customized to the client’s specific situation.
They engaged human advisors who gave them bad advice (biased or incompetent) or bad products (inappropriate or noncompetitive). This includes professionals who used ghostwritten books to subtly promote their own financial products or fee-based services. The first and second problems were usually caused by fear or disrespect of financial professionals, even though most professionals really do offer sound advice and problem-solving products. At best, these three problems led to inefficient or costly results; more often they led to financial disaster….