Alex Corbin: My Story
Hi my name is Alex Corbin and I am a financial advisor. This is something that I have been doing for many years now but it has only been recently that I have gotten into the business of providing truly objective advice. Over the years I have learned that most financial advice that is offered is done for reasons that are not in the best interest of the client. I have done this myself but I have now changed my approach so that I can offer my clients the best possible advice for their situation.
I got my start in the world of finance after if finished college and got a job working in a bank. My job was as a personal banker in which I was supposed to help people to make decisions about which banking products were best for their needs. I quickly learned that the advice that we were offering was more about making sales than it was about offering good and unbiased advice. Basically we were supposed to tell people that the product they needed was whatever we were trying to sell. After a few years at this job I decided that it was time to move on.
I decided to take a job as a financial advisor, this turned out to be a job that was very similar to the job that I had at the bank. Rather than offering objective advice we were telling people that they needed whatever we were selling. The only difference was that now instead of selling banking products we were selling high risk investment products. What is truly amazing is that people didn't realize that this is what we were doing. We brought in customers by offering free investment advice; it was remarkable how few wondered why would do that.
After a few years at this job I started to wonder if there was anybody that actually offered objective investment advice. It turns out there was but you had to work for the right company to do this. It was at this point that I decided to go out on my own and start working as an independent financial advisor. The here is that you have to actually charge people for the service that you are providing. If you are selling investment products to make a living then you really can't offer objective advice therefore I now only sell my advice.
One thing that has become very clear is how many people desperately need the advice of financial advisor. Most people really don't know anywhere near as much as they should about their investments. The biggest concern is the complete underestimation of how much they need to save for retirement. Most people think that they are doing fine when in reality they are not going to save anywhere near enough. The other problem that people have is way too much debt; this is another area that I have had to really work to help people with.
Financial Advice
When handeling your personal finance you need to be prepared and well informed. I've listed some informative websites which I used often over time to help with my personal finances.