Unnecessary contaminants pollute natural and financial ecosystems.
Let’s start with Mother Nature. Homeowners are unknowingly saturating their yards and poisoning their neighbors’ property with GLBs (Gas Powered Leaf Blowers)
A friend recently presented to our community about the dangers of these carbon-spewing monstrosities.
Here are some of the highlights:
In just 30 minutes, a GLB produces more emissions than 40 gas-powered cars idling for the same period.
Most companies use 2-3 GLBs simultaneously, dangerously magnifying the toxic impacts.
Blowers create decibel levels of 80 and above. Anything above 70 is considered harmful.
GLBs produce low-frequency noise that travels long distances and penetrates walls and buildings.
Noise at these levels is detrimental to the mental and physical health of all living things in its path.
GLBs are a Category 5 Hurricane to natural ecosystems. They destroy topsoil and the habitats of essential pollinators like bees, butterflies, and moths.
Gas Blowers are a super nova of lethal pollutants and carcinogens.
There are numerous alternatives to these relics of 1950s technology. Electric Blowers, old-fashioned raking, and leaving the leaves all provide solutions that don’t involve destroying healthy habits for all of God’s creatures.
There is an economic concept called a free rider. A free rider is someone who benefits from something without paying for it. In this case, Landscrapers pollute the environment with GLBs but pay no price for the sinister side effects on human health and the environment. Their sole concern is keeping their costs down and getting jobs done as quickly as possible, despite the negative impacts on all stakeholders.
This is especially true for the employees of these companies exposed to lethal carcinogens and pollutants regularly.
Numerous free riders are prowling the landscape of individual investors’ portfolios.
In my two decades-plus as a financial advisor, I’ve seen more than my share of individuals taking more than their fair share from the accounts of individual investors.
These include, but are not limited to, the following examples.
Insurance salespeople placing tax-deferred variable annuities inside tax-deferred retirement accounts.
Investment accounts holding 40+ mutual funds changed every quarter to earn soft dollars from the brokerage firm holding the funds.
Clients advised that their portfolio was in a conservative allocation when the positions were low-rated Junk Bonds.
Parents being sold life insurance on their children, even though insurance is designed to protect dependents. These children had no dependents.
Brokers leveraging clients’ accounts with margin borrowing without prior consent.
Young families coerced by insurance salespeople into buying expensive and unsuitable whole life insurance solely as a commission grab.
Parents unknowingly convinced to pay sales loads on 529 contributions when no-load options were easily accessible.
Investment companies fighting tooth and nail against any fiduciary rule with teeth to protect investors from being exploited.
Brokers refusing to disclose fees to investors when challenged.
Mind blogging arcane rules and roadblocks implemented by financial firms to prevent assets from being transferred.
Brokers continually employed by firms despite numerous infractions on their public records.
Investors with less than 50k under management holding portfolios containing 25+ positions.
The list goes on and on. The bottom line is that companies that pollute the environment and investors’ portfolios with little or no ramifications are free riders at their worst.
If you don’t know who is paying the price for all this malfeasance, it’s probably you.
