What would you with $20K?

[gjpure]

Equity Indexed Annuities and Fixed annuities can fit that catagory, as can certain private REITS. I all depends on how you define risk, but EVERY investment holds some degree of risk, it just depends on if you are comfortable with that risk or not.


The other guy's idea on being a financial planning to only poker players is an interesting one. But I wonder: How do you know if the "niche" is big enough, and how would you find your clients and convince them to start investing their money. Certainly, many are making a lot of money at a young age, but they also have school loans, debts, bills, etc. that dissapate later in life. So I wonder how profitable it would be to a financial planner. Regardless, however, if you have any significant amount of cash just sitting in a bank and are not sure what to do with it, interview several financial planners and go with one that makes sense and with whom you feel comfortable. After all, it's your money. You may have bluffed it fair and square!

[Sniper]

Equity Indexed Annuities are fairly complex investment vehicles... a definately "read the fine print" before locking your money away type of investment.

One example warning on these investments

SEC comments on Equity Index Annuities

NASD Alert on Equity Indexed Annuities

CNN Money article

[buffett]

Wonderful post, Sniper. I love it when we agree on something, and I especiallly like situations like this one where I vehemently agree with you.

Here's my favorite quote from your links: "the high commissions equity-indexed annuities offer create a huge conflict of interest for the advisor. If you were an advisor and had the choice of making 2% or 15% on an account, which would you choose? Is it any wonder equity-indexed annuities have become so popular?"

[Dan Mezick]

Good move.

Some CFP (maybe your office) is going to make a pretty penny advising the best of the 2+2 young guns. The ideal CFP will be a poker player and capable of assuming a mentoring role with a style customized for these great young players.

It's actually shocking to me that CFPs are not all over this.

If I was 21 and interested in managing portfolios, I'd just go and take the classes and get the CFP and then market my services to the many great young players here.

Several of them are going to retire millionaires by 35 provided they get the proper advisors on their team early in the poker career. Certainly this is a win-win for all involved.

I know of no CFP that caters to poker players. WHAT A NICHE.

Most CFPs struggle explaining advanced financial concepts to clients. Winning players by default get anything related to risk and reward-- immediately.

Marketing CFP services to winning young poker players. What a killer business model for the right CFP firm. Some of these kids will have liquid net worth well over 500K by the time they are 27, 28, 29. And they are going to live for another 30, 35, 40, 50 years.

What an opportunity. It's HUGE-- and wide open.

http://www.cfp-board.org/

I'm not a cfp but i did stay at a holiday inn [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Ed Miller]

[ QUOTE ]
Good move.

Some CFP (maybe your office) is going to make a pretty penny advising the best of the 2+2 young guns. The ideal CFP will be a poker player and capable of assuming a mentoring role with a style customized for these great young players.

It's actually shocking to me that CFPs are not all over this.

If I was 21 and interested in managing portfolios, I'd just go and take the classes and get the CFP and then market my services to the many great young players here.

Several of them are going to retire millionaires by 35 provided they get the proper advisors on their team early in the poker career. Certainly this is a win-win for all involved.

I know of no CFP that caters to poker players. WHAT A NICHE.

Most CFPs struggle explaining advanced financial concepts to clients. Winning players by default get anything related to risk and reward-- immediately.

Marketing CFP services to winning young poker players. What a killer business model for the right CFP firm. Some of these kids will have liquid net worth well over 500K by the time they are 27, 28, 29. And they are going to live for another 30, 35, 40, 50 years.

What an opportunity. It's HUGE-- and wide open.

http://www.cfp-board.org/

[/ QUOTE ]

In the last few months, I've considered doing exactly this. Actually, my plan was to team up with a CFP rather than to become one.

I don't know, though... I don't think it's as instantly lucrative a niche as you are suggesting. That's precisely because of how smart successful poker players are.

The financial industry supports itself on the ignorance of its customers. While a lot of these 18-25 year olds are ignorant now, many won't be two years from now. They'll be smart... and when they have millions, they will know what to do with it... and that won't be paying me $20k a year to put it in index funds for them.

Sports millionaires... that's a great niche. But poker players? The money isn't as good in poker, and they are too savvy to sign on for the long haul. They need short term direction, not long term management.

Actually, the niche that could be somewhat lucrative is the windfall niche. The lottery winner niche. The inheritance niche. The big tournament winner niche. The "average Joes" that happen to win big tournaments and don't know what to do with the cash. But there are plenty of people who already cater to that niche. Which is not to say that a player known in poker circles who also caters to that niche wouldn't have a "niche within a niche." But it would be connection-based, not expertise-based.

I dunno.. I thought it was a great idea too when I first thought of it. But then I said, "How many of these guys are sticking around for the long haul?" and I decided that most, ultimately, will outgrow the CFP service.

[Dan Mezick]

Anyone really smart values expert advisors. It's really that simple.

With expert advisors you amplify your own talents by leveraging subject matter experts in other related domains.

[ QUOTE ]

AUTHOR:
John Davison Rockefeller (1839–1937)

QUOTATION:
I have no use for men who fail. The cause of their failure is no business of mine, but I want successful men as my associates.



[/ QUOTE ]

[eastbay]

[ QUOTE ]
Anyone really smart values expert advisors. It's really that simple.


[/ QUOTE ]

Wasn't that the justification for why mutual funds were supposed to be the place to put your money over the past two decades? That's where the experts were and they were always going to be able to do better than know-nothing you. It appears that advice turned out to be wrong, or at least not any better than set-it-and-forget-it index investments.

eastbay