Traps of Treasure

Everywhere you look today, it seems a new commercial, social media article, or seminar claims its methods or products provide the most efficient path to secure your financial future. Talking heads and squawk boxes on television seeking to enrich only themselves are a dime a dozen. Yet more than 95 percent of the general public are not fortunate to be born into the lap of luxury. Many still wonder how their decades-long hard work could ever truly lead to a financially stable life and retirement for themselves, their children, and their loved ones.

Traps of Treasure delves deep into the various ways financial industry players evade their moral obligation to fully disclose relevant information. By shining a light on many of these tactics, the book helps general retail investors make well-educated decisions for their future while investing. With the daily grind of life, it's no wonder it's so easy for major institutions and unscrupulous players of the financial industry to take advantage of retirees or investors. Jobs, school, medical emergencies, vacations, and caring for family members consume investors' time as they try to build a sustainable quality of life for themselves. Most people do not have the time in their daily lives to investigate with a fine-tooth comb the sleight of hand and immoral maneuvering that occurs as investors entrust their hard-earned money to a financial advisor or investment firm.

Traps of Treasure enlightens readers by guiding them through the pitfalls they might encounter along their path to a peaceful retirement and high quality of life. You may be a novice looking to establish your first savings account. Perhaps you are an experienced investor wondering why you have not made the progress you hoped to achieve when you started investing. The contents of this book may help uncover ways to protect you from the proverbial pool of sharks in the investment world.

Topics covered in this book include lesser-known operations in the back offices of large investment firms, media manipulation methods of retail investors, regulatory impediments to successful retail investing, and different structures of investment companies, to name a few. Traps of Treasure gives readers useful insight to detect and avoid the snares laid and evasive maneuvers used by the industry's less ethical members. With the help of an industry insider's firsthand experience, a retail investor might have a better opportunity to lay the foundation of a successful investment strategy.

In essence, this book tries to reduce an investor's odds of being taken advantage of by the many immoral tactics employed by those who are in the business solely for self-enrichment. Contrary to stereotypes portrayed in movies or caricatures of greedy investment managers, it is possible to find financial advisors and investment firms who truly want to help others enrich their lives and protect their financial futures. The trick is recognizing which ones can directly, morally, and satisfactorily answer the questions and topics raised in this book.