Investing Expert Ken Weber Asks: What the HELL Are Investors Thinking?

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LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., May 28, 2015 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- According to a recent Gallup poll, 59 percent of Americans are concerned about not having enough money to survive in retirement. For many of these people, investing, often via a 401(k) or other employer-sponsored retirement plan, has been the primary way they have worked to amass money for their retirement. But, according to Ken Weber, long-time investment advisor and president of Lake Success, NY-based Weber Asset Management, many investors continue to make mistakes that ultimately impede their ability to successfully invest and spend their money.

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Weber, author of Dear Investor, What the HELL Are You Doing?: Smart and Easy Ways to Fix the Mistakes You Make With Your Money (Greenleaf Book Group Press, 248 pages, ISBN: 978-1626341616, $20 hardcover, $7.99 Kindle, 2015), points directly at three major mistakes investors need to identify and fix in order to achieve investing success. "Most investors need to change three of their behaviors," said Weber. "First, they focus on quick investing results versus longer-term goals. Second, they invest in individual stocks and bonds instead of mutual funds. Third, they listen to advice from people who don't always have their best interest at heart."

Don't Speculate, Invest

"Most of us have heard stories about people getting rich from a stock tip they heard at a cocktail party, or people who made millions on some hot IPO, or the sexiest 'new' investment," said Weber. "Those kinds of speculative investments can work, but they often have so much risk associated with them that very few people can truly achieve a financially secure future via these speculative methods." Instead, Weber asserts that investors need to rid themselves of the hunt for immediate gratification when it comes to investing. "Whether it's boredom, impatience, greed, ignorance, curiosity, or a combination of these, the slow and steady growth provided by a diversified portfolio can help lead to investing success."

Don't Buy Stocks, Buy Mutual Funds

Finding individual stocks that will provide the long-term growth needed in order to support a comfortable retirement (or some other goal) can be daunting. Weber explains that part of the problem is that most people don't have the time, knowledge and/or experience to do the kind of work required to successfully find and follow individual stocks. Instead, he typically advises investors to buy no-load mutual funds. "Mutual funds allow the kind of diversification that owning an individual stock does not," said Weber. "Instead of having to buy ten or twenty individual stocks in order to diversify your portfolio – and monitoring the performance of such stocks – a mutual fund has a manager who can do that for you."

Getting the Wrong Advice

Just about anyone is willing to give investing advice, given the right set of circumstances. "If enough booze is flowing, everyone seems to have the inside track on the next big IPO," said Weber. In addition, he warns there are people who give advice based on their own interests. "Too many professionals will steer you toward a particular investment because of the commission they stand to gain when you invest. That's not to say that they are bad investments per se, but you want an unbiased professional who will lead you toward investments most likely to help you achieve your investing goals."

About Ken Weber

Ken Weber is a recognized authority on 401(k) plans and one of America's leading mutual fund experts. With more than 30 years experience in the financial services industry, Weber has been quoted in a host of media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times,Money magazine, Barron's,Business Week, The Journal of Accountancy and Reuters. With a Bachelor's degree from Hofstra University and a Master's degree from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, Weber founded Weber Asset Management, a fee-only Registered Investment Advisory firm, in 1993.

Weber is also a founding member of Fidelity Investments' RIA Advisor Council, a member of the National Association of Active Investment Managers, and a member the Financial Planning Association. Weber is author of "Dear Investor, What the HELL are You Doing?: Smart and Easy Ways to Fix the Mistakes You Make With Your Money" (available wherever books are sold). He also writes about personal finance for Huffington Post.

Media Contact: Leesy Palmer, Impact Communications, 913-649-5009, [email protected]

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