Banker’s Attitude Rained On Retiree’s Saved Money
A Banker bragged very loudly about saving money, “Don’t let the government get your money, so invest in RRSP mutual funds.” This, just as a poor and ill elderly man walked into a bank.
This is a story from a real situation just a few days ago.
We’ve been told banks are safe, they cannot run away with our money and we also can build credibility with them in case we need to borrow their money. We have insurance coverage for our protection, just in case the bank should go under. But what real value is an RRSP investment savings?
Is this the absolute truth that your money is safest in a bank?
This is not the case for some other people. Their experience with the investment at the bank had been horrifying.
As recently as yesterday, someone I know very well just lost $25,000.00 Canadian dollars! In just 6 months in the mutual funds investments on the advice of a certain ‘qualified’ bank investment expert.
Nearly all his hard earned money saved over 20 years went up in smoke. Now, this man has been working as a clean up guy in restaurants for many years earning just minimum wage.
But listen to this: the bank was not too thrilled and eager to withdraw the funds from the mutual funds. They actually needed a valid and a good reason as to why this person would want to withdraw the money. Losing $25,000.00 in just 6 months isn’t good enough reason?
Now, there was another dimension which was never addressed. This man had wanted to withdraw his funds more than 2 months prior but he was discouraged by, you guessed it, the friendly bank qualified investment ‘expert’. The losses would have been very much smaller then. Will this qualified ‘expert’ care to explain discouraging this man from making a withdrawal? He had laready suffered significant investment losses.
At the very least, a transfer to an investment certificate earning a guaranteed income would have been the proper course of action would it not?
Trust the bank? You, the reader, please make up your own mind.
Now, can we trust the government to be fair in this situation?
They love to tax us when we earn interest, no matter what amount. Would they want to practice fairness and allow a person to write-off or carry the loss of $25,000.00 forward? Since $25,000.00 was lost in the RRSP mutual funds – hardly.
These recessions hurt the little people far more because they can afford to lose or have far, far less to live on. Ordinary people are squeezed left to right by these big conglomerates of investment houses.
Now, I’d like to be fair and let the banks have their say too but the reasons offered as a condolence by the banks’ officers is really cold comfort and prompted me to post this article, on this issue of your hard earned cash issue. Telling the poor guy, “You are fully responsible for your own investments. Keep it for long enough with us and I’m sure it will regain its value.” If those bank officers were listening at all to the man, and instead of their own puffed up voices, that he has kidney problems and needs to retire.
Now, Mr. or Ms. Banker, whose interest are you really protecting? Never mind you don’t need to answer. It’s obvious.
You can trust no one, you can trust yourself, and you can trust yourself with your own bank. Did you ever wonder why your grandparents may have hidden their money under their mattresses? Or perhaps why so many people have an alternative personal banking system in place.
Now, on second thoughts, I’d like to be fair and let anyone, or perhaps a banker respond to what happened to this man.
