The Great Savings and Pensions Scam. An A-Z Guide. Today Y-Z

Y � You. Many savers get fooled into believing that banks, financial advisers, insurance companies and fund management firms are offering impartial investment advice. But most financial services staff are just salespeople ordered to sell a small range of products which generate the greatest level of commissions and profits for their employers, or themselves if they are self-employed. We have to realise that apart from a very few rare exceptions, nobody is on the side of ordinary savers. The interests of the professionals are usually diametrically opposed to ours. To maximise their earnings, they have to take as much of our money as they can. Only once we understand that financial services staff cannot be trusted and that we have to take full responsibility for our own finances can we have a chance of protecting our money from the industry�s predatory behaviour and maybe even get a reasonable return on our savings. With governments deeply in debt and employers closing final-salary pension schemes, you are the only person who is responsible for ensuring your own financial future. If you are not spending at least an hour a week increasing your financial knowledge by reading the personal finance pages in the newspapers and some books on investing, you�re likely to lose a large part of your money from being sold inappropriate and expensive financial products.

Z � Zero. For the next five to ten years, economic growth in the West is likely to be pretty low as the incompetent, over-regulating, overspending political pygmies who rule us fail to provide any real leadership and just fill their own pockets with our money. So if you have put your savings in unit trusts which will take 3%-4% of your money each year or traditional pensions that will charge you about five times what you would pay in Holland or Denmark, then the growth in your savings is likely to be absolutely �zero�. Similarly, if you put your savings in a SIPP and then shove this money into unit trusts so you�re paying both the SIPP and the unit trust fees, then expect �zero�. Though of course those taking your money will all become multimillionaires. There is only one way to make your money grow � look at the shares held by the top-performing unit trusts then buy those shares directly yourself and hold them for years. After all, who do you want to make rich � yourself or some slimey, lying, greedy financial services insiders?