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The dozen largest companies in the brokerage business have just offered to pay $1.5 billion in penalties in an effort to avoid years of litigation from angry investors. It's not clear in my mind who will receive this money. It's only clear that the industry has to pay it. Not that long ago, one of the nation's largest brokerage firms, alone, had to pay yet another $1.5 billion to settle years of shareholder suits over limited partnerships that had turned sour. Lawyers presumably received a major portion of that money before the trickle-down effect benefited investors in any material way. It reminds me of the class action suit against some dungaree seller where the lawyers received millions and the buyers each received about $5.00 if they bought their jeans within a certain specific time period. If a financial institution takes advantage of us, we can't count on the justice system to wreak vengeance and make us whole. For all practical purposes, we are alone with our money. The first lesson is that bigger is not better. These major institutions with huge ad budgets and admittedly smart people need to be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism. The size and national stature of a financial institution is no guarantee that the contact person we work with is giving us good advice. U.S. Trust, a venerable financial advisor for high net worth Americans (and now owned by Charles Schwab and Company) had an especially embarrassing period back in the seventies when, according to financial writer Andrew Tobias, it advised many of its clients to invest in what turned out to be very bad real estate deals. At the time, the company had one of the best reputations in the business. Even Vanguard's management exhibits a touch of self-serving behavior. This unique, giant cooperative, effectively owned by its mutual fund investors, has been faulted in recent years for what some would consider to be excessive compensation coming from its so-called "Partnership Program." The latter is apparently a compensation system put in place to meet the advantage other financial institutions had in the form of stock options. Vanguard's unique ownership structure precluded stock ownership, so this "partnership" approach was adopted. In the light of what has happened to stock option values in the financial services industry, it may be time for Vanguard to do some course correcting and further reduce investor expense ratios. The rising markets of the 80's and 90's turned all investors into self-styled "Masters of the Universe." It was intoxicating to get those statements in '97, '98, and '99 and see what for most of us were dramatic gains. Now, for the past three years, we have found ourselves having to "duke it out with the Dark Side of the Force." The temptation to throw in the towel and turn to an expert---any expert --- is probably greater than ever. It's in this state of mind when we can be most vulnerable. A constructive first step is to determine the soft underbelly of our investment and savings program. Are we dealing with substandard investment results or just a lack of self-discipline that leaves us saving less than we should. When it comes to substandard investment results, we should ignore the actual percentage loss of assets and focus on whether or not we had been adhering to basic investment rules of thumb. The markets have lost 40% or more overall, and the best money managers in the world are, for the most part, stuck with something close to those losses. To have known, prospectively, what advisor or money manager could have helped us avoid that loss would have been impossible. My mail is full of these investment newsletter people who have claimed to have "timed the market," but according to Mark Hulbert who tracks their long-term performance, most have had dismal records over the years. After having lost almost 40% over the past three years, the market as a whole is now on a par with its long-term 10% rate of return. In other words, we could draw a line of hypothetical performance illustrating a rise of an even 10% per year and then compare it with an equivalent line reflecting actual market performance. These two lines today, thanks to the plummet, are reasonably close. Warren Buffet, in his long FORTUNE interview early this year, talked about an expectation of 7% per year for the next ten years. But, that was before the market dropped an additional 15% this summer. Depending upon which of many divining rods we want to use, you can find many reasons for why the market over the long term continues to offer one of the best opportunities for patient money. When it comes to finding advice, decide first what the problem is. A visit to a fee-based financial planner is a good place to start if you feel you have lost your financial bearings and need help revisiting your overall goals. The advantage of hiring a professional planner is that they will hold your feet to the fire and make sure that you plan your work and work your plan. Next, the websites of every mutual fund company offer financial planning programs that will help you get on the right track. One of the most user-friendly independent resources is offered at www.torridtech.com. With regard to second guessing the market, it's important to avoid the temptation to try. Just look at the current downturn as an opportunity to increase a broad selection of diversified investments at bargain prices. For sport, a bit of second-guessing can't do much harm. In this respect, small and mid-cap mutual funds (or stocks) have historically performed better as economies came out of recessions. Meanwhile, high-yield bond funds at their currently depressed prices perform more like stock funds than bond funds. While we wait for the rest of our holdings to recover, a little money in a junk bond fund may offer some immediate gratification in the form of high current yields. Little by little, the average person can learn from experience, and some inevitable mistakes along the way can cost money. However, gaining the knowledge ourselves can be far more valuable in the long run than being held hostage by financial institutions dispensing advice. The past few years may appear to have cost us some money, but in the end it has been part of a great learning experience, and markets, over time, are forgiving. To correct a recent column, I should point out that the sale of a home no longer requires the purchase of another home to avoid paying taxes on the first $250,000 of gains ($500,000 if married.) Twice now, during my columnist career, I have made the mistake of citing the previous law that required profits to be rolled into another home to avoid taxation. BUYandHOLD does not offer or provide any investment advice or opinion regarding the nature, potential, value, suitability or profitability of any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction or investment strategy. Any investment decisions you make will be based solely on your evaluation of your financial circumstances, investment objectives, risk tolerance, and liquidity needs. The securities markets are subject to the risks of fluctuating prices and the uncertainty of rates of return and yields inherent in investing and past performance is no guarantee of future results. The BUYandHOLD
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