I think the best way to introduce you to my addition to the Tactical Investor website is to tell you about my investing history.  I hope you won't find it too boring.  Maybe some of you will identify with the activities in my past.  I think some of them are funny, but they are also sad.

In 1982, for the first time in our lives, my family came into some money.  It was not a great deal, but it was more than enough to pay off bills and invest the remainder.

We were perplexed. What should we do?  Of course, like many other women, my first notion was to hire an "expert." They know more than we do, right?  After a trip to a local
commission-based financial advisor we left with a limited partnership, a few front-load mutual funds (you pay 8% up-front) and not one bit wiser.  But we were soon to be a lot poorer.

Then I called Dean Witter Brokerage for another perspective. When the full service broker on the line heard my story he was quickly at our kitchen table, showing us prospectuses and charts of how much we would make over the years.  Before I knew what had happened, "Pete" had sold us several Dean Witter's "B" funds and certain stocks that he most likely had been told to push.  The "B" funds were a bargain, of course. The only catch is that you have to stay in them for 5 years!

Next came the penny stock brokerage firm and the Futures fund. Both had been advertised in the popular Money Magazine.  The Futures fund sent a beautiful color video for us to watch. 10 traders would take $10,000 from us and make us millionaires!  What a great deal! And the penny stockbroker kept reminding me that Microsoft was once a penny stock. Why not buy another Microsoft right now?

Well, as the years went by, all of the experts were eliminated, one by one. I called "Pete" numerous times to get the brokerage money transferred to a no load fund family.  After about 2 years the Futures fund was worth $8,000.  The limited partnership from the "financial advisor" was never built. (It was going to be a beautiful restaurant) and the penny stockbroker was taken away in handcuffs in New York as they closed down the fake brokerage house. They had even stolen some of my penny stocks.

I now feel the same way about professional commission-based financial advisors and full service brokerage firms as I do about used car salesmen:  I don't trust them.  Experience and education have taught me that YOU are the only one who really cares about your money, and YOU must take responsibility for it.  Please, if you have not taken the time to learn anything about investing, do so NOW.

A good place to start is our website.  It is full of useful information and links to educational websites. Our Market Update is also full of unbiased and reasonable advice and stock and sector picks that have been fully researched. 

Another way to learn is to take a no-credit class at a local community college or join a financial club. And read, read, read books on investing written by authors with no conflicts of interest. We have many excellent books in our bookstore.

When I started taking responsibility for my investments, I began to prosper.  The load funds turned into no loads that were just as good. The stocks turned into Sector Funds and ETFs. I stayed out of the market when it was in a bearish mode. The full service brokerage firm was exchanged for a discount broker.

Things have definitely improved. They will improve for you as well if you learn to earn -- and beware of scam artists.  I have probably met them all.  

Many Profits to All,