Saturday, January 20, 2007

Vindicated!

Remember how in this post I was all, "I may not know what I'm talking about, but these funds look like losers to me"?

Today, K received two things:
1) Notification that his IRA had successfully rolled over to Smith Barney (this was his parents' doing; now he can begin rolling it over again, to Vanguard), and
2) A call from the portfolio manager there, saying, "Hi, Mr. [K's last name], I'm [his name], at Smith Barney. I'm looking over the records for your Roth IRA, and these funds haven't made you any money. I'm going to recommend..."

I actually felt pretty awesome. A little financial research and a little common sense go a long way.

1 comment:

Michael said...

Vindication is one of the minor perks of getting financially educated and under-control. As in any learning situation, seeing that your un-coached conclusions were 100% correct is one of the little things that will sustain your mission and give you the confidence and assurance to take control of your finances forever.

My own vindication moment came when I decided to open an investment account into which I would deposit $100 each week- the beginnings of my retirement savings (I'm in New Zealand- unfortunately we have no such thing as 401ks or IRAs).

After many weeks of research I had decided on a particular product from a particular bank for particular reasons. I held off, and instead made an appointment with a free, no commission, no obligation, advisor available to me.

What would you know? He suggested the exact same product, from the exact same bank, for the exact same reasons. Vindication, confidence, assurance. My financial decisions are mine, and they're good ones.