i find it interesting how obviously smart people can disagree on the same thing to this extent.

in my view, the best judge for anything is personal experience – therefore i can not disagree with any of you.

i also believe that anything is based on the quality of people you are dealing with. ask your financial planer, accountant or real estate agent what they do with their money and then compare it to the advice they are giving you – that is a really god sign of credibility. also check out their fee structure – are they getting rewarded when you win, or is there no correlation. then look at their standard of living – that is a real sign of success, not the pictures or good/bad company names. the best way to answer all of these is meeting people in their homes…

in any case, this levaes you with one thing that you always have to rely on – gut feel. if you trust the peple who approach you – check it out and make up your own mind (while weghing up the risk profile you are comitting to if any). if there is no trust – forget it.

good people can make a pile of shit work for you financially – bad people couldn't organise a …… in a ……
(hope that wasn't too cryptic)

newie