High Returns with Low Risk - The Fool's Gold of Personal Finance
Are you ever convinced by those “Before and After” pictures that advertise health and fitness regimes?
You know, the ones with the pale, miserable looking guy on the left, standing awkwardly, his belly protruding. Then, on the right, he has miraculously transformed into a smiling, strapping, bronzed Adonis.
And all because he took the Magic Potion for 30 days.
It happens all the time in personal finance.
THREE WAYS TO LOSE YOUR MONEY
Here are three examples that appeared in our news feed in the space of a week.
1 - An advert promising “8% returns. Guaranteed. No risk.” It was something to do with investing in a teak plantation.
2 - A car lease investment firm crashed. It had offered investors annual returns of up to 11% p.a. over three years.
3 - The promoters of a “football index” scheme went into administration. The scheme allowed you to trade “shares” in football players and promised a “dividend” if your players performed well or got positive reactions in the media. A sort of Fantasy Football, but with real money.
It’s easy to scoff and say “you couldn’t make this stuff up”, but these investors, speculators, victims and fellow human beings will probably lose everything they invested. They’ll beat themselves up. They’ll lose sleep. It’s incredibly sad.
FINANCIAL ALCHEMY
As long as there are people who want to believe in the financial alchemy of low risk, high reward, there will always be a line of willing snake oil salesmen, concocting exciting schemes to part the unprepared from their money.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
FINANCIAL SUCCESS IS A GET RICH SLOW SCHEME
Sensible investing is not speculating. It shouldn't be fun either. If you want fun, take a small amount of money to the casino, but be prepared to lose it all.
Risk and reward go hand in hand. There is a place for high risk and a place for low risk. But danger arrives when one masquerades as the other.
There are no shortcuts if you want to walk a relatively predictable path to financial freedom.
If you would like to learn more about common-sense investing, click here.
The value of your investments can go down well as up, so you could get back less
than you invested.
Tax and Estate planning is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.