Our guest today, Harold Geller, is a lawyer who helps clients dealing with fraud and negligence perpetrated by financial advisors, and is a passionate advocate for investors and their rights. Tuning in you’ll hear details of some of the most common issues Harold has come across in his work, along with his practical advice for financial advisors and investors. We discuss the importance of clear communication between advisors and their clients, the concept of KYC (Know Your Client), and simple steps investors can take to ensure that their advice is properly understood by their clients. Harold goes on to provide an outline of factors that could make individuals vulnerable to negligent financial advice (such as marital problems or a sudden health crisis) and how to gain perspective in extreme situations. We also discuss the key differences between salespeople and financial advisors, the type of credentials investors should be looking for, and how regulation needs to be modernized in Canada for investors to be properly protected. Harold has been in this industry for a long time and is immensely knowledgeable on the subject of fraud and negligent investment advice. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 6:27 Advisors Who Promise High Returns but Don't Deliver 9:33 The Line Between Good Advice with a Bad Outcome and Bad Advice 17:42 How to Tell Whether an Advisor is Performing Due Diligence 20:38 Types of Investors Vulnerable to Negligent Advisors 25:07 What to Look for From People With Aging Parents' Financial Advisors 36:38 Contributions to Canada's Slow Adoption of Low-Cost Index Funds 42:50 Frequency of Involving Leverage in Cases Harold Takes on 47:09 Harold's Take on Cases Involving Crypto 50:09 Negligent Advice and Conservative Investments 55:52 Things Advisors Should Do to be Properly Understood Advisors 58:03 Things Investors Can Do to Properly Understand Advisors 1:03:00 Credentials Consumers Should Look For in Advisors 1:04:49 How to Articulate Good Investment Advice and Financial Planning 1:06:45 Harold's Motivation Behind Being an Investor Advocate 1:10:11 Harold Defines Success in his Life Participate in our 23 in 23 Reading Challenge: 23 in 23 Reading Challenge — https://rationalreminder.ca/23in23 23 in 23 Reading Challenge on Beanstalk — https://pwlcapital.beanstack.org/ Participate in our Community Discussion about this Episode: https://community.rationalreminder.ca/t/episode-236-harold-geller-i-sue-financial-advisors-discussion-thread/21500 Links From Today’s Episode: Rational Reminder on iTunes — https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-rational-reminder-podcast/id1426530582. Rational Reminder Website — https://rationalreminder.ca/ Shop Merch — https://shop.rationalreminder.ca/ Join the Community — https://community.rationalreminder.ca/ Follow us on Twitter — https://twitter.com/RationalRemind Follow us on Instagram — @rationalreminder Benjamin on Twitter — https://twitter.com/benjaminwfelix Cameron on Twitter — https://twitter.com/CameronPassmore Harold on Linkedin — https://www.linkedin.com/in/harold-geller-25094033/ Geller Law — http://gellerlaw.ca 'The Misguided Beliefs of Financial Advisors' — https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jofi.12995 'Retail Financial Advice: Does One Size Fit All?' — https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jofi.12514