Bernie Madoff Is Completely Right About This!

Bernie Madoff Is Completely Right About This!

Boy oh boy, I didn’t see this day coming – when I’d actually be in total agreement with Bernie Madoff. But on February 27, when New York magazine published an interview with the 72-year-old crook of the century, I found myself agreeing 100 percent with this statement: “The whole new regulatory reform is a joke.”

For those of you not familiar with it, “regulatory reform” is the new law that was passed by Congress with the intention of fixing the financial industry (which politicians usually refer to as Wall Street) and hence prevent scams like the one pulled off by Bernie, as well as the “greed” that would eventually slide our economy into a recession. Politically, that may seem a smart strategy, but I think Madoff is correct on two counts.

First of all, you can’t legislate honesty, ethics, or good behavior, no matter how hard you try. I mean, you can’t even do it with kids, let alone with grown folks. So to think that a piece of legislation, irrespective of how “strongly” it is worded, will cause - or could have prevented - greedy, dishonest, good-for-nothing individuals from swindling, stealing, or lying to people is just pure wishful thinking. I learned years ago that it’s virtually impossible to train someone to be honest (especially adults). So the one thing we don’t do here at Laser Financial Group – and will never do (insofar as I remain in charge) – is train our staff about how to be ethical. I take a very simple shortcut – we hire only honest people!

My second reason for agreeing with Bernie is this: who else is more qualified to tell us what works (or doesn’t work) than the mastermind of the biggest financial scam in history, which – on paper – is estimated to be $ 65 billion and known to have affected people spanning across five continents? And I’d surmise that he did this for his entire life, given he’s now 72 years old. What is even more revealing (but I don’t think most people recognize) is that while scamming people, Bernie Madoff was at one time the chairman of the board of the financial industry’s own watchdog organization (it used to be called the National Association of Securities Dealers – NASD, and is known today as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority – FINRA). Think about that! Madoff was heading up the very body that was supposed to be cleaning out the bad apples while he was scamming folks. Unbelievable, right? My point is this guy just doesn’t know a thing or two about ripping-off people – but EVERYTHING – and he is telling us that laws won’t stop financial scammers!

So just how does one ensure that they do not become a victim of some unscrupulous financial guy or gal? Although I don’t claim to have a 100 percent solution, the seven tips I outlined last June in this article would go a long way toward helping you to protect your investments from fraud.

Call us at 301.949.4449 or visit us on the Web to schedule your complimentary session so you can start getting your financial house in order without getting scammed.