March 9, 2004
-When i retired from Boeing Aircraft i went to the investment side of a large banking instutition that i was banking at.On their advice,i boughta variable annuity that i did not fully understand and was given a prospectus after i had bought.The funds were dollar cost averaged into mutual funds that the bank controls.I was told that i was not diversified enough,so i was advised to sell a large portion of my Boeing stock and buy more of the same stock that they had sold me previously.Now i was diversifiedThe broker wanted me to sell more Boeing and buy more of the stock but i declined.Boeing was at42.00,i. sold later at 56 and 65.00.The stock that i sold at 42.00 was stock that i had wanted to sell at a low of 46.00 but the broker insisted and i yielded.I think that many people are taken advantage of by brokers as they retire and go into these instutions for sound advice.Many brokers are very self serving and are only out for a commision.The A shares are to heavy on the front end load and the yearly fees are a rip of.I feel that i have lost four years of possible growth of my retirement money due partly from bad advice and a down turn in the market.Had i been better informed and advised i would have seen better growth of my money.The only one that made money was the broker and the bank.Also the funds that i am invested is involved in the mutual fund fraud.I feel partly to blame ,as i was ignorant to the procedures of investing and should have educated my self prior to retirement.Hind sight is costly.