Wolves of Wall Street, Part 1: Financial Advice Red Flags to Watch For

In this episode of The Retirement Fiduciary, Adam Koós pulls back the curtain on the parts of the financial world most people never see. This one started with a client request. Go find the bad advice floating around out there and shine a light on it. So Adam does exactly that. He walks through the conflicts of interest, sales tricks, and flat out scams that quietly cost everyday investors real money, and he keeps the whole thing in plain English so you can catch the warning signs early. This is part one of a two part conversation. Adam covers commissions and conflicts of interest, how a true fiduciary is actually held accountable, churning and reverse churning, the annuity moves that drain savings, mis-sold insurance, and two real fraud stories that will make you look twice at anyone promising something too good to be true. Part two lands in two weeks. Episode Timestamps 00:00 – Intro and why Adam made this episode 02:00 – Commissions and conflicts of interest 06:00 – Churning, explained 07:00 – The "moving annuities" trick 08:00 – The "there are no fees" myth 11:00 – Reverse churning 14:00 – Mis-sold insurance policies 17:00 – Whole life and overfunded life insurance (LIRPs) 20:00 – Two real Ponzi scheme stories 29:00 – Proprietary investments and products 32:00 – A look ahead to part two Key Takeaways 💡  A true fee only fiduciary legally cannot earn commissions, so they get paid the same no matter where your money is invested. 💡  Churning is trading your account just to generate commissions. Reverse churning is the flip side, parking your money and doing little while still charging you. 💡  If someone says your annuity is "maturing" and it's time to buy a new one, slow down. In most cases it isn't, and a new one can mean a fresh commission for them. 💡  "There are no fees" is one of the biggest myths in the industry. There is always a cost somewhere. 💡  Insurance companies are good at insurance. Holistic planning covers taxes, estate, investments, and risk, so know what you're actually getting. 💡  When a return sounds too good to be true, ask questions before you sign anything. That instinct can protect your life savings. Key Quotes 🗣  "How you do anything is how you do everything." (Martha Beck, quoted by Adam) 🗣  "There's always a cost. There's always a fee somewhere. And in many cases there's lots of fees." 🗣  "Commissions create conflicts of interest." Connect With Libertas Wealth Facebook: https://facebook.com/libertaswealth Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/libertas.wealth Threads: https://www.threads.com/@libertas.wealth LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/libertas-wealth/ Twitter / X: https://x.com/LibertasWM TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@libertaswealthmanagement YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@libertaswealth Podcast YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhkYzW1XyJA0Ef_Hf7nUCMGLSlmfHt43v Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/29Jrqu0MV1VrpRGqgm6seV Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-retirement-fiduciary-podcast/id1029927148 Website: https://www.libertaswealth.com Email: [email protected] Phone: 614-543-1350 Connect with Adam Koós: Adam Koós, CFP®, CMT, CFTe, CEPA LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamkoos Website: https://www.libertaswealth.com