Mutual fun: Our Friday financial funnies

Advisors are funny. You prove that to us every week.

Here’s the best from this week’s crop of stories advisors across Canada shared with us about the funny side of the investments business.

Plan Ahead

An advisor in the prairies was talking to an elderly client and his son about how the older man was managing around the house, when the conversation took an interesting turn.

The client had been living alone for several years and the son was complaining his dad was spending too much of his annuity income at the supermarket. Apparently, the old fellow liked to fill his cart with canned goods and prepared foods with the excuse that, “They were on sale.”

At one point in the conversation, the son said, “It seems like I spend every other Saturday throwing away out-of-date condiments.”

To which the advisor quipped, “Yeah, it’s only fun until someone gets botulism.”

Survey Says

A recent telephone poll found only 2.1% of Canadians rate the honesty and ethics of their stockbrokers as “very high.” Car salespeople edged brokers at 2.8%, as did journalists at 7.1%. But the highest marks went to doctors 25.7%.

Unfair, considering financial planners write some pretty effective prescriptions.

Goal Post

A Toronto-based advisor was having a conversation with a client who is in his late ’90s and asked some questions about his shorter- and long-term goals.

The client gaped: “Long-term goals? Long term for me could be next month.”

Net Nuts

Increased use of the Internet by information-hungry clients has led to some off-the-wall questions.

A Montreal advisor says a client recently asked him, “Because interest rates are low, is it a bad time to do tax planning?” He’s been scratching his head on that one for a week.

Earlier this year, another client, confused by an article that mentioned the RRSP deadline, called up and insisted his account be opened right away.

His logic? “It’s Jan.15 and RRSPs are almost all sold out!”

Um, yeah.

Gut Purchase

Years ago, an advisor was working with a couple on the purchase of a retirement annuity.

He presented them with a listing of comparative rates and the husband was about to select the top company when his wife remarked that her uncle had been injured on the job site when that company’s head office was being built. Based on that, she felt the company was too dangerous to put their retirement savings into.

The husband, being wise, promptly agreed, gave me a wink and selected the second-ranked company.

The couple continues to enjoy payments from the safer company to this day.

Let’s hear from you

Have a funny anecdote? Send it in…the best ones will get published on Fridays.

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Need more laughs?

Follow these links to previous week’s Mutual Fun columns:

August 14th

August 21st

August 28th

(10/02/09)