Sometimes I think we forget what’s happening when a client decides to work with an investment advisor or a financial planner of one kind or another.

The industry has made this “transaction” something of a product sale rather than an objective with goals and real outcomes. These products are supposed to provide a certain set of promoted benefits. But there seems to be a disconnect that happens along the way.

I can’t think of one person over 45 who would have said in their 20s that what they really want is a bunch of mutual funds, six insurance policies, two mortgages and an annuity. Yet every day I find 40, 50 and 60 year olds with a host of products similar to these but with no real plan. Worse than this, seldom is the client able to clearly connect the products they own to the outcomes of a safe and secure retirement.

Retirement investing should not be complicated. There are many myths about this topic that investors need to uncover and destroy in order to be successful.

The most common three are these:

1. Stock Picking can be done by Gurus.

2. Market Timing is key to investing success in the long term.

3. Track Record Investing is a valuable methodology for choosing mutual funds.

Quite often, the list of what you don’t need to know to be successful is longer than what you do need to know. Nowhere is that more true than with investing. Let me unpack these three myths with you over the days ahead.

For the complete, concise antidotes to the above investment myths and for the comprehensive answers about How to Win Using Capital Markets, attend our World Class Investor Coaching event in October.