Todd Almasi - Relationship Goals: An Insiders Guide to Your Relationship with Your Money, Your Investment Advisor and Your Future

Dedication

There really are too many people to mention who over the past 26 years have helped me, guided me and influenced my career. To all my clients, colleagues and managers, everyone has had a hand in getting me to this point. Thank you.

Specifically, though, to my brother Rory
I cannot believe it is almost 14 years that you have been gone - I would not be in the position I am without you. Thank you for the opportunity so many years ago.

To Jack D.boy, I sure do miss our conversations. To Mary and Marshall, Sean and Bernie, Graeme and Deidre, Doug and Angela. To Mark, Soren and Rudythank you for all that you have done over the years.

To Nicole, Grayson and Marinyou make all of this possible; I owe you everything.

Forward

The more things change, the more they stay the same, right?

I think so. After working for 30 years in the investment industry, especially so.

You might think that things in the investment world are now faster, better and smarter. That investors are now empowered to make their own decisions and break free of the constraints of the old-style investment decisions.

You see whats happening in FinTech, and how really all you need to know can be found on Google, or even Facebook.

Its true. Change is a constant, and the investment world has indeed seen more than its share of it, and much of that has indeed empowered investors by offering more information, more services and more options.

But at the end of the day, the one constant that remains present and is, in my mind, the ultimate factor in deciding how well you create and protect your wealth, is this: The nature and strength of your professional relationship with an investment advisor.

What a weird concept, right? At a time when investors are glued to their smart phones, apps, tablets and laptops screens, it would seem that putting effort into cultivating a professional relationships with an investment advisor would be counterintuitive.

Wrong. If anything, its more important than ever before. Having more tools in your toolbox doesnt make you a better investor. Having more advice coming at you from different directions doesnt make you smarter.

The increased velocity of technology changes and options make it more difficult than ever to make smart investment choices. Yes, as an investor, it makes sense to take more in your own hands and learn more about the world around you. But unless you devote every hour of your working day to understanding and working in the capital markets, youre far better off enlisting the help of a professional.

When you actually think about it, isnt this the effort we should be making in ALL of our professional relationships? You can take the ideas presented here and implement them in most areas of your life.

This is the very valuable message that Todd Almasi brings to us in this fast-paced, clear and succinct book. Hes taken 26 years of his experience as an investment advisor and delivers the key takeaways to you on whats important within these pages.

Todd answers five questions that will help you immediately start on the path to a strong relationship with your investment advisor:

1. What should you realistically expect from your investment advisor?
2. What is your relationship with money, and does your advisor understand this?
3. Do you have a game plan, and what is it?
4. Who should you listen to in the media?
5. How do you avoid generational erosion of family wealth?

If you have these five things already under control, this books not for you. Move on.

But for the rest of us, the return on investment from spending some time reading Todds real-world views on money, investing and relationships is enormous.

Enjoy!

Rick Peterson

President

Peterson Capital

www.petersoncapital.ca

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Google It

Google it.

Two simple words. How many times have we simply said, I dont knowlets Google it? The faucet is drippingGoogle it and find out how to make it stop. I have a pain in the left side of my stomachnot sure if I ate something bad or it might be something more serious Google it. My car makes a funny noise when I go over a bumpGoogle it and see what it might be. I am not sure if the wording in this lease agreement is accurate or fair Google it. Every time we need to know something or every time we have a passing thought that we are unsure of, and of course every time we need plumbing, medical, automotive or even legal advice we head to the computer and look it up. Thats the world we live in and because everything that is on the Internet is 100% accurate there is no problem with this. Right? You see the world today is filled with information and this information is there to help you, guide you, confuse you and honestly make you forget what you were looking up in the first place. So where does this leave the many people searching for investment advice on the Internet? And how do they even begin to decipher what is accurate?

First of all, let me say that you can do it yourself. You can Google it. You can spend your evenings and weekends reading investment commentary. You can take time away from running your business, seeing your clients, your patients, your customers, to figure out what you should invest your very hard-earned savings into. If you are one of these people, I say good job to you. And good luck. Perhaps youre one of the lucky few who dont need Google because you live next door or happen to be related to someone who knows it all. These people are experts in their own profession and yours, and can fix your golf swing as well. They know that you have too much fertilizer on your grass or the wrong kind. They know that the consumer reports were wrong and that their vehicle is safer, more fuel efficient and will cost less over time. They know that the mole on your back is not cancerous, but most of all they even know which stock you should buy and that it is guaranteed to go up or already has for them.

But if youre like me, you understand that although you can bake a cake or barbecue a steak, its just not as good as the one that comes from the person who has spent years working on their recipe. Years tweaking the ingredients, years training and learning their craft, and, yet still, once in a while they burn the steak.

Years ago, in the first house that my wife and I ever bought, I was working on the master bathroom as part of our renovation. Having figured out what I needed to fix and replace after several trips to the plumbing store, I was almost finished the job and snap! I over-tightened the nut and broke the pipe. It was 8 p.m. I had to tell my wife that we had to turn off the water in the entire house for the night because of my mistake and that I would run to the store first thing in the morning so she could have a shower. Little did I know at the time that would be a much easier discussion than if part of our retirement savings dropped 50% because I made a mistake. I learned two lessons that day: only do plumbing during store hours, and just because I can once in a while do something half-assed doesnt mean that I am an expert at it and that I probably should have just called the plumber.

Now I am sure that if you are reading this book, it is not the first book on investing that you have picked up. Odds are, youve read and studied many books over the years that have assisted you in acquiring your wealth. In fact, I dare you to go stand in the bookstore, in the business and investing section, and look at the rows and rows of books on investing.