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Empowered Investor: A Guide to Building Better Portfolios by Keith Matthews

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Redefining Investment Advice

Before we get to any investment solutions or Nobel Prize-winning investment strategies, we must first reflect on the existing
methods by which the majority of North American investors obtain investment advice. Understanding how the system works is a
fundamental starting point on the road to becoming an empowered investor.

Through slick marketing campaigns, Wall Street, Bay Street, the
brokerage industry and the financial advisory business have positioned themselves as experts in predicting the markets. This usually appears in the form of stock market tips, market analyses or mutual fund reports. The traditional service agreement between the investor and the advisory firm goes something like this: the investor pays a commission or a fee, and in return, the advisory firm tells them where things are headed.

With catchphrases like “Ten Stocks to Buy Now” and “How to Retire Rich,” the advice business has largely succeeded in convincing investors that they have the inside track, and to disregard this advice is tantamount to economic suicide. Predicting an uncertain future has become the bread and butter of most advisors, and the public has been all too willing to buy into this. After all, when most investors meet a financial advisor, whether it be at a cocktail party, on an airplane, or at the health club, one of the questions that will invariably pop up is “What stock is a good buy?” or “Where is the market going?”

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