The term Financial Planner is an oxymoron. There is no planning involved, as “they” get paid when customers enter and exit the market. Trading volume is how this industry survives.
Now I am not saying absolutes, like “all” planners are . . . but what this industry sells are “things” that fit a customer’s “wants” => steady retirement, big house, boats, etc. This industry uses simplified tooling to “project” what earnings will be based on very simple assumptions.
If they were true planners, they’d be higher degrees in Economics and Mathematics, instead of being certified salespeople, state-by-state. Since markets strive for efficiency, once any given model becomes known and fully utilized, it losses it’s ability to exploit the given inefficiency.
The information age guarantees zero certainty over time, as information becomes more accessible by the masses. Basically, market inefficiencies get erased far faster than they in days past because more people learn of them and can act with greater rapidity than ever before.
“The term Financial Planner is an oxymoron.”
I remember what the financial planners said back in 1987 when I lost a chunk of change in the market: “Oops! Well, you have to be in it for the long term!”
I was trying to get the downpayment for a house and in the end I figure I would have done just as well leaving my money in the bank. Which is where most of it has been ever since.