Chris Mamula – Take Responsibility for Your Financial Situation

BIO: After poor experiences with the financial industry early in his professional life, Chris Mamula educated himself in investing and tax planning. STORY: Because Chris trusted his parents, he also blindly trusted their financial advisor. It was only after he stumbled upon better financial advice that Chris realized he’d wasted well over $100,000 in fees and another $100,000 in taxes. LEARNING: Gain financial literacy and take responsibility for your financial situation. Don’t trust financial advisors blindly.  “The less money you spend on your financial advice and financial products, the more money you’ll have to invest.”Chris Mamula  Guest profile After poor experiences with the financial industry early in his professional life, Chris Mamula educated himself in investing and tax planning. He now draws on his experiences to write and speak about wealth building, investing, financial planning, financial independence and early retirement (FIRE), and lifestyle design at the blog “Can I Retire Yet?”. Chris is also the primary author of the book ChooseFI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence. In addition, he works one-on-one with those looking to improve their finances and use them to create a better lifestyle as an advice-only financial planner with Abundo Wealth.Worst investment ever Chris was a college graduate with a master’s degree starting to learn how to make and spend money. Like many people, he was overwhelmed and intimidated by the technical parts of finance, investing, and tax planning. The advice Chris would hear everywhere was; if you need help, seek a recommendation from someone you trust. So he went to his parents, whom he trusted more than anyone else. Chris’s parents were generally decent with their money as far as stretching a paycheck, managing a budget, and taking care of their children’s needs. Chris didn’t realize that his parents used a financial advisor because they had no idea what they were doing. And because Chris trusted them so much, he started using the same advisor and blindly trusted everything he told him—no questions asked. After a decade of this, Chris finally stumbled into some better investment advice and found out all the mistakes he had made. He realized that over a decade, he had wasted well over $100,000 in fees and another $100,000 in taxes. Because he’d started it so early in life, it could easily be a million-dollar mistake when you compound it over time.Lessons learnedSo many conflicts with financial advice exist, so you can’t blindly trust anyone.When looking for an advisor, ask as many questions as possible. What does this person know well? Is there a conflict between your interest and theirs? Are you getting the best advice?Gain financial literacy and take responsibility for your financial situation. Andrew’s takeawaysInvesting is actually quite simple, but financial professionals often make it complicated.Never invest in anything that somebody calls you about.A piece of advice could work for someone but not necessarily for you.You have the right to ask for further clarification if you don’t understand the fees you’re being charged. Actionable...