Can You Trust Your Broker or Financial Planner?

Remember those hot high-profile, must-own stocks that included WorldCom, Global Crossing, and Enron, and the glowing recommendations the companies got from Wall Street analysts? We'd mention more, but it's too painful for a lot of people.

The truly sad thing is that even after all the hot air was let out of the stock market bubble of the late 1990s, Wall Street continued to tout failing companies. Remember Enron? Just a few months before it collapsed in 2001, 16 of 17 analysts who followed the company had given it a "buy" rating!

One broker at UBS Paine Webber did send an e-mail to a group of Enron employees suggesting they unload their shares in the company—on the same day that Enron's then-chairman, Kenneth Lay, secretly shed $4 million from his own stake. But instead of becoming a hero, that broker was fired.

Why? After all, he was right. Enron's stock did become worthless just a few months later, and the clients were, to put it as delicately as we can, royally screwed. But Enron was a big corporate client of Paine Webber. The firm was managing Enron's stock option program for employees and brokerage accounts for many company executives, as well as doing a substantial amount of investment banking work for Enron.

There's a trust rift as wide as the Grand Canyon between brokerage firms and clients, as there should be. Wall Street hasn't been straight with us.

Here at Dolans.com, we are going to give you the straight scoop on investing. The fact is, your broker won't tell you, your financial planner won't tell you, your insurance agent won't tell you, and your banker won't tell you what you really need to know about investing your hard-earned bucks. No one cares about your money the way you do.

And here's the best news of all: Without too much effort, you can do better than many of the so-called "experts" and have a comfortable nest egg for your future!