Getting back at all the money sharks lol

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Getting back at all the money sharks lol
1
Wed, 02-01-2006 - 11:45am

I interviewed a financial planning company owner yesterday for an article I'm writing for a biz mag, and her story really made me laugh. It's only sort of on-topic, but it certainly shows what we can do for ourselves with the right combination of determination and guts. Thought I'd share the opening paragraphs of the article:

Twenty years ago, life looked pretty bleak for this high school dropout facing cancer, an empty bank account, and a doomed marriage.

Sloan turned to her financial advisor to withdraw some of the $14,000+ she and her husband had entrusted to his care over the past several years. When he informed her that her account balance was only $800, she thought there must be some mistake. No, and her investigations into the matter revealed ultimately that while her trusted advisor had done nothing illegal, he had most definitely taken advantage of her vulnerability, and grossly mishandled her money.

Angry, Sloan took the first step toward what would eventually become a multi-million dollar business. She took the GED and completed all the coursework and certifications necessary to become a financial planner.

She then followed her former financial advisor around town. When he would walk away from someone’s house, she would walk right past him on the sidewalk, and in the door behind him. She’d plunk down the pile of papers from her “$14,000 PhD” and say, “This is what he did to me. Let me help you prevent it from happening to you.”

Last she heard, he was selling trailers in the same coastal community, and beginning to run into trouble with that, too.

Did he ever say anything to her about it? “Oh, no. He’d walk right past me without even looking at me,” says Sloan devilishly. “He knew. He knew.”

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-11-2001
Wed, 02-01-2006 - 4:21pm

I really was enjoying your article. I am curious to know what happened in the end.

Beach