Intended for successful business owners, entrepreneurs and professionals of all types, author Dean Kendall’s “Stop Paying Hidden Investment Fees” will provide a better understanding of the fees you pay, their impact on your goals and your options for pursuing a better course. This book analyzes some common hidden investment fees and it goes on to explain their impact on a customer’s financial return.
The first few chapters of this book focus on who is giving you advice and what their motives are. People of all types who appreciate a higher fiduciary standard and full disclosure will greatly appreciate what this book teaches. It is also very clear that while there are expected fees, commissions that any advisor or institution wants to charge, just as long as they are clearly disclosed and communicated to the client UP FRONT!!
According to Mr. Kendall, Canada is definitely lagging in-regards to disclosure, transparency and high fees but the marketplace is changing and we do not need to settle for poor transparency and high hidden fees any longer. He goes on to explain how to become better informed, discover new opportunities and make much better choices.
It is very clear that he doesn’t have “an axe to grind” with the industry, he merely wants all fees and charges to be clearly disclosed in plain language and then it is up to consumers and investors to make the right choice.
The writing style is easy to understand with a lot of references to look up as well as visuals to make it substantially easier on the brain to absorb. It was informative and helpful, especially for someone like myself who doesn’t primarily work in the financial industry. One thing I was completely naïve to was to make sure all fees are tax-advantaged, so I was particularly interested in Chapter Four regarding this topic and what to look for.
Towards the end of the book, Chapter Seven has the Tsunami effect of putting it all together and this was one of my favorite chapters of the book, it was extremely informative and was super easy to understand when it is all laid out in front of you.
The book is intended for its’ audience to be able to make smarter choices, ask stronger questions and basically for them to be hyper-aware of everything they are being charged fees for and the author is just letting us know that “this stuff really matters”.