Warning to Income Seeking Investors
by Neil Jenman
READING TIME: APX 5.5 minutes
The saddest stories I see are retirees who lose their savings – sometimes their homes. Lured by above average returns, unsuspecting folk sink too much money into companies that sink.
These days, more people borrow money than save money, which is why, when the Reserve Bank cuts rates, the media hails it as good news. “You’ve never had it so good,” is the modern mantra about the lowest interest rates in memory.
But good news for most is bad news for some.
Consider the retirees, (almost four million Australians are now aged 65-plus), who depend on income from savings. Many have seen their incomes plummet during the years of plummeting interest rates. For these people, low interest rates are a disaster.
And so, understandably, they look elsewhere to increase their income. In doing so, thousands of them lose everything.
Many years ago, I was so concerned at the number of mature-aged people losing money in companies with oh-so-very-secure sounding names, that I did some private research. I chose the ‘money’ section in newspapers and cut-out advertisements for all companies with secure-sounding names that were offering investors a higher-than-average return. In two weeks, I found about nineteen. In many cases, I asked for a prospectus. The fine print was frightening.
And then, I waited. Time has a habit of revealing the truth.
Five years went by – and I checked the ‘health’ of those 19 companies.
Of all those companies with safe sounding names targeting investors with offers of high interest rates, how many still existed? Brace yourself – none. Not one. Websites no longer existed, and phone numbers were “disconnected”. They were all gone. And gone too, I am sure, were tens of millions of dollars in retirees’ savings.
It’s a tragedy. Shame and despair hits people hard. “How could we have been so stupid?” they wail privately. Yes, so embarrassed are those who lose money in these high-offering yet safe-sounding companies, so frightened are they of being labelled “greedy” or “stupid”, they rarely tell anyone, especially families.
One of the most traumatic nights of my life was when I visited a couple in their late 70s on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. They had lost their entire savings, around eight hundred thousand dollars in one of these companies that looked so safe. I soon discovered that they were about to take their lives. I stayed with them until two in the morning. Arriving home, I fell into my wife’s arms saying, “I am not trained in suicide prevention.”
Last week, I saw an ad on Facebook. It was another of “those companies” with all the symptoms of suspicion – a safe name, a smiling couple on a brochure, a huge interest rate (in this case, 12.5%!) and a clear inference of security. I felt sick.
The most important question that investors – of all ages and in all types of investing – must ask is what I call the ‘7-Word-Safety-Question’: “What is the worst that can happen?”
Well, I looked at their prospectus and there it was, buried amongst the feel-good headlines and the heart-rending photographs, the following warning: “risks can include significant losses”. Oh sure, it said that “The company intended” to prevent these losses. “Intended”!! And what if they don’t? What happens to investors’ savings? What’s the worst case? YOU LOSE YOUR MONEY!
Now, seriously, if it won’t bother you to lose whatever money you invest in these safe-sounding companies – and if you think I am being an “alarmist”, then go ahead, invest. But I can tell you this: There is no way I would invest in any of these companies, no matter how much “spare cash” I had. There is no way I would want my friends or family to invest with them either. I like to sleep well at night, obeying my favourite rule of investing: SAFETY.
Wasn’t it Warren Buffet, reportedly the world’s best investor, who once said, “There are two essential rules when investing. The first rule is DON’T LOSE MONEY and the second rule is always remember the first rule.”
Finally, back to the Facebook ad. It allowed me to ‘like’ and to ‘comment’. I couldn’t resist, so I wrote the following and posted it under their “sponsored message” (which is what ads are often called these days):
“Many years ago, I researched apx 19 companies that were promoting ‘great interest rates with security’. Of those 19 companies, how many were still around 5 years later? Wait for it – none! They’d all collapsed, closed or just disappeared. I’d be VERY CAREFUL investing in any company that promotes such an interest rate. I mean, seriously, if they need funds, why not borrow from banks at less than 5%? Why pay 12.5%? Oh, that’s right: the banks won’t touch them. So, what message does that give to you? Are you as wealthy as a bank? I repeat: BE CAREFUL.”
My comments were deleted.
Here are my two final comments: These companies offering high interest rates are not secure despite their names which create an impression of security, they are HIGH-RISK. And my final comment is this: It is better to have 2.5 per cent and keep your savings than to have 12.5 per cent and lose your savings.
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PLEASE NOTE: Our focus is upon helping consumers. Abuse from agents on our web site or Facebook page will be deleted or ignored or well publicised – it depends on our mood.
But one thing will never vary: No matter how much we are abused or threatened we will never stop doing what we love most – helping honest consumers to get the best deal possible in real estate. And, of course, if any agents are serious about taking care of consumers, we’d love to help you too. But, remember, the consumers come first. Thank you.
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July 15, 2019 @ 9:09 pm
You will never find an honest real estate agent, they have only one agenda and that is to get a commission at any cost!
Sell your own property. I did, it’s not that hard and saved me thousands.
July 16, 2019 @ 11:34 pm
C’mon Phil, that might be a bit harsh. Real estate agents are people like anyone else. There are good ones and there are bad ones. Jenman clearly would like to get some business out of this, but his advice seems good and the agents that put his name in the window have to follow his rules.
I got a Jenman agent to sell my parents’ house in Nunawading when they passed away. I wasn’t in a suitable frame of mind to take that on myself at the time and I’ve never once regretted engaging Joseph.
Bottom line, if you can do it yourself, fine, but it you can’t then at least hire someone that you can see isn’t trying to scam you.
July 15, 2019 @ 9:24 pm
Good advice.
A crash is coming and it will be the mother of all crashes.
It is really hard to know precisely when – my guess is after the 2020 elections in the USA.
July 15, 2019 @ 9:27 pm
Thankyou Neil .
Your article on shame investment schemes is so accurate . The temptation is upon us now , in the times of historically low lending rates .
The sharks are out to lure the retirees into a catastrophic decision and rip them off their lifetime savings .
Thankyou again for shedding light upon these criminals !
July 15, 2019 @ 9:40 pm
Hey Neil, Good point to be vary of “secure sounding names”, like The Reserve Bank of Australia.
Been a long time. Best wishes.
July 15, 2019 @ 9:49 pm
Thanks Neil, wonderful advice as always.
July 15, 2019 @ 9:52 pm
Well done and thank you for the clearly explained warning.
July 15, 2019 @ 9:54 pm
Good to see you still fighting Neil. Getting an agent to sign the Jenman-approved document was the best thing I did when selling my house.
July 15, 2019 @ 10:22 pm
Excellent advice as always from Neil.
July 15, 2019 @ 11:10 pm
Re: Wasn’t it Warren Buffet, reportedly the world’s best investor, who once said, “There are two essential rules when investing. The first rule is DON’T LOSE MONEY and the second rule is always remember the first rule.”
His share holdings have twice fallen by around 50%, though they did bounce back.
July 15, 2019 @ 11:31 pm
Very low bank deposit interest rate has been with us in Hongkong for more than 10 years. Old people who dare not to invest in shares, properties etc are suffering.
In Hongkong, the deposit rate may be as low as 0.02%pa. Many retirees are relying on bank interest income for their living and expenses. This situation may happen in Australia in the coming future, for how long, don’t know. This situation has created what you call the rich get richer, the poor get poorer.
I don’t blame the ordinary people as greedy for turning to high yield deposits. They may reckon 12% is too risky, and likes 5-6%. But unfortunately, the 5-6% companies are even greater crooks than the 12%. Remember the Lehman Brothers mini-bonds offering single digit interest rate and many ordinary people put their money into this AAA company. Are they greedy? No. Only they are really in need and driven by the global low interest era. Life is cruel to them, especially if it lasts for a long time.
July 15, 2019 @ 11:42 pm
Neil
Love your stories your knowledge and your honest advice.
Keep writing.
I would love an article on the future of property prices. Do you see property prices going up or down in Sydney ? there is so much conflicting information about this.
Do you see us heading towards a recession ?
Tough questions I know but I would love to hear your opinion.
Cheers
Ann.
July 16, 2019 @ 1:19 am
Keep up the great work.
July 16, 2019 @ 7:11 am
Very interesting article, thank you.
July 16, 2019 @ 8:48 am
Thanks. We’re retirees and our best defence has been to keep our expenses very low (we’re lucky in that we have no mortgage and no credit card) and continue to suffer low interest rates.
July 16, 2019 @ 8:51 am
Hello Jenman team.
Im retired 3 years, and the low interest rates are starting to bite.
“Luckily”, I achieve almost all of the pension, due to low assets and super. Just glad I live simply.
Thanks again for your ongoing insights. Keeps me grounded, regarding the world of finance and sales.
Steve Parker.
July 16, 2019 @ 9:15 am
Thank you Neil, keep up the great work!
Kind regards, Patrick
July 16, 2019 @ 9:47 am
Thank you for that very timely warning although it was all common sense, I realise in tough times people are willing to try something risky to make a gain.
One more point I would add is – never put all your eggs in one basket – spread the risk.
July 16, 2019 @ 10:30 am
Thank you for this article. I would suggest another word of caution:- Be wary of investments that nominate (or have on their boards), well known members of the public, be they politicans, sports people or media personalities etc, as they are by no means, a guarantee of a secure investment. I can speak from a (thankfully limited) experience!
July 16, 2019 @ 11:03 am
Neil. I was one of your long time followers. Bought your first book “Real Estate Mistakes” in BigW when I was younger and now retired. You are spot on with your advices and hopefully many retirees will heed your warnings and refrain from those attractive high risk scammers. But I do feel for retirees where the old rule is you can retire comfortably with $1 million.. I dont want to be alarmist, but in this low rate environment, you need a lot more than that! Sad!!!
July 16, 2019 @ 12:01 pm
Hi Neil,
From all Australians I say thank you for the warning! Unfortunately though, most people aren’t as curious or diligent as you are – it would be valuable if you could share those website links with your readers?
You also know part of my ‘story’, which simply reinforces that the spruikers, con-men, spivs & thieves aren’t limited to real estate scams. The entire M.I.S catastrophe (which was created by the Federal Government) took down approximately 250,000 ordinary Australians. And it appears that every single legal case found in favor of the perpetrators, never the ‘victims’.
July 16, 2019 @ 12:06 pm
Good on you Neil. Thank you.
July 16, 2019 @ 1:29 pm
Neil Jenman & Associates..
Dear Sir,
I have been a follower and doer of your advice for over 15 years.
I congratulate you and your team on your high morals, integrity and just Basic Logic [ common sense]. With all those scams out there on Instagram, Face Book etc…Buyer be Ware !
Thank you for including me in your mailing list.
You are a Gem !
With all the “Golden Nuggets” you have freely given out, over the years, you are a credit to Australian Society.
Please keep up the good work.
Yours Sincerely,
John f Weeks & Family
July 16, 2019 @ 2:20 pm
Thanks Neil,
I appreciate receiving your alerts yet again. I just got off the phone with SunSuper somehow they “misplaced” $150k I was transferring online into another SS account. We don’t know how that happened we will “let you know when we have located it”. No doubt they will “hopefully”. One thing is for certain the complacent attitude and lack of accountability for AI/human error will continue.
Best wishes always to you and your family.
David Lemke
July 17, 2019 @ 1:31 pm
I was ‘forced’ out of my 15 year job in 1912 when the company combined with another. I wasnot offered voluntary redundancy, I was just pushed and pressured until I fell apart and ‘quit’. I never even wrote out a letter explaining my reasons for quitting and never received a letter terminating my employment. I fell into a ‘brown out’ wherein I couldn’t function properly for approximately months. After several months when I could finally drive to apply for any form of government payout/pension, they were so busy they just handed me some forms. In my state of mind I read this incorrectly and believed I could no get any financial help. This was in fact untrue; I could have had some form of allowance after 13 weeks of unemployment. I realise now that, had I been my right frame of mind, I would have been much better off. I also had to rush getting my money from Super into Pension I was selling my house and trying to get even the buyer’s deposit into my pension fund if not the whole amount of the sale. Also my birthday is late December 1949 and when the Deeming Rules were put in place in January 2015 I had a terrible rush to try and get all monies possible into my Pensiovingsn Fund. Therefore, I now have funds in savings and shares which are not paying me enough to live. I would be under the basic wage if I was assessed on my Income leve
I made a mistake in March 2018 and purchased a run-down house on a large block with thoughts of earning an income and then trying to subdivide and sell the property at profit. The house is far too run-down to renovate myself and I am reluctant to spend more savings on doing it up with tradesmen so it is now sitting empty/unlet and my money is no longer earning any interest (was in a Managed Fund). I am relying on my Pension Fund (approxj. $500 per fortnight) plus a small amount of income from shares. I am currently trying to sell this investment property (not happening quickly) and am so anxious about how to proceed in my financial future. I realise I have more than lots of other pensioners but my income is just too tight. Enough for now, I have just received your book ‘Help for Home Sellers’ so may find some answers there. My health is suffering with the uncertainty of all this and I still have nightmares from the lousy way my employers treated me back in 2012.