His daydream is rudely interrupted by the telephone's shrill ring. It's his pension advisor and for once the smooth talking broker seems to have trouble getting his words out. He's calling because of Joe's pension. This credit crunch thing, yea well it's affected the markets a bit you know. And Joe's fund that was sitting around 100k last summer, well the thing is its closer to 80k now. And the best advice now is to keep working for a little while longer. Just till the markets come right again. How long? Maybe a year or two, but who knows right. But don't worry Joe, you're not alone. Another 350 000 people or so share your plight.

Average Joe might be fictional but unfortunately his story is very real. Experts estimate that as many as 350,000 people due to retire in 2008 may now have to stay working due to sinking share prices. Many pre-retirees have seen their personal pension pots reduced by up to 20% since the summer and may now have to stay working until their funds recover.

It definitely puts last month's 2.5% "CRASH" of house prices on the Halifax price index into perspective. But who needs perspective when there are newspapers to sell, right. I'm not a pension advisor and would never profess to understand all the complex issues around
Occupational pensions, personal pensions or stakeholder pensions. Or for that matter AVCs, FSAVCs or SIPPs. But then again do the brokers who sell these products?

"Wall Street is the only place that people ride to in a Rolls Royce to get advice from those who take the subway." Warren Buffett

Too often we mistakenly interpret a great sales pitch or product knowledge as expert advice. Just ask anyone who bought an endowment policy to repay their mortgage only to find that it's not even worth the total sum of their regular deposits.
I always find it incredible how easily some people will give away the responsibility of their financial future to someone else. How willing they are to relinquish control. Maybe it makes it easier for the Joe's out there to have someone to blame when things go wrong. Most people spend more time researching what car to buy than they ever put into educating themselves about financial products.

If you are serious about your financial future then be sure to mind your own investments. No one will look after your money quite like you will. And this doesn't mean that you have to pick your own stock, find your own BTL investment or do all the research on oil price algorithms. Keep using other people's time (OPT) and expertise but never get complaisant. Never stop asking questions, never stop learning. Make a commitment right now to put an hour aside every day to educate yourself about your chosen investment. Read the relevant books, newspaper columns or online articles. Register here for our regular educational newsletters or give me a call on 0207 223 4109 or 0797 1000 667 to discuss any questions you may have.

Successful studies and I look forward too speaking to you soon.

Mike Smuts
Property investor and Managing Director of Smuts & Taylor.