 Certainly making the most impact in the channel when we're talking about the reality of the investing landscape out there and how there's so many people that are wasting money. They're flushing it right down the toilet. I'm gonna jump in, I'm gonna talk about five ways of losing money in this way. I mean, you're really flushing it down the toilet. I think if you're gonna get some enjoyment out of your money and you're not interested in investing or saving for your financial future, at least get something out of it. Go buy something, go buy a yo-yo, go buy something that's gonna give you some sort of short-term joy and return on your investment at least for the short-term. Investing is a long-term game and it's amazing to me the impact that we can make when we're identifying the options for individuals in the landscape. And I know there's a lot of astute investors out there that are looking for that path. And I just think in all fairness they need to be provided options. And I think all too often, I'm a very, very small fish in a very, very large pond trying to fight a battle here of institutions making money and individuals putting up all the risk. There's no doubt about it. And this should piss you off. It really, retail investors out there really need to wake up. They really need to take some of the power back. And I think even in a small capacity you could justify a self-directed route becoming an independent investor channel just for the sheer principle of the matter, really. It's just the ability to empower yourselves and liberate your dollars going forward without subjecting those dollars to the modern day highway robbery and rat race that is the financial planning institution. I think there would be more empowered investors. I think retail investors would accumulate more personal wealth. And I think they'd be a hell of a lot happier and a whole hell of a lot less naive about the impact of fees over their money. So let's get right into it. We're talking about five fees that are subjected to people's money in the financial institutions and that they are rampant. And we are talking assets under management in excess of hundreds of billion dollars and even in some cases, trillions of dollars of assets under management of people's money that day to day are subject to these fees. And a lot of cases people just don't understand the fees or they are accepted of the fees without understanding the ramification of those fees over the long term. So let's get right into it. Number one is the annual fee. Why should you pay $75 for Roth IRA? Why? Why if you have two Roth IRAs in the family should you pay $75 of an annual fee to an institution like a network Jones or the many other out there that have figured out that people are extremely naive about their money and they will give away the farm. In other words, they will flush it down the toilet. Charge for a Roth IRA. You say, Ryan, that's normal. People got to earn a living. BS, BS, you can open a Roth IRA free of charge in a number of different brokerage houses. So many financial institutions have really come to terms with the fact that they can't charge people frivolous fees without them going and seeking out the 50 other options that they have to opt for for free. But hidden fees are just a thing of the past and annual fees are just really some of those things that an individual does not have to accept. Challenge the notion of said fees. What do you get for it? What is the comparison between their Roth IRA and the next 50 options that you have out there? Remember, guys, an account is just a conduit to the market. A Roth IRA is a Roth IRA is a Roth IRA. It's just the umbrella that provides you the same tax protection, whether or not an institution wants to charge you an extravagant amount of money because they've sold you on the idea that theirs has a nice shiny red bow on the top of it. When in actuality, it's going to perform the exact same as any discount broker out there. Any broker out there that offers a Roth IRA of a self-directed nature should not be charging you annual fees to participate in that said account. It's just that simple. Number two, dollar-cost average fees. This is a good one. It wasn't until I became hip to looking at my statements and you guys might look at me and say, man alive, Ryan, you're an incredible investor. And I've learned to be a good investor to hold my own, but it is not by lack of making just a ton of mistakes in my past. And I tell you what, every mistake in the book I've made. So a lot of what I explain is by nature of me going through those learning processes, understand and questioning whether or not they were even worth it and whether or not they were even necessary to go through in the first place. So if I can impart to you some of the lessons that I've learned over time, you'll be more the wiser to it. Maybe you can circumvent some of those landmines throughout your life, but dollar-cost average fees, I really couldn't believe it. A financial planner will sit you down and run you through the rigmarole of a compounding calculator and how much that's gonna make the difference over time. This is true, yes, but they will take your $100 and they will split it up amongst the assets that they've got. Now what they can really get you on is if they sell you on multiple assets, one mutual fund or two is not enough. They've got to sell you on four. Sometimes I've seen situations that are just absolutely egregious and they will sell you on so many mutual funds so they can take five and three quarter percentage points out of each and every one of those dollars that are contributed on a monthly basis. This is modern day highway robbery. You're flushing down your money in the toilet, you'll never get this money back. Financial institutions times millions and millions of clients over and over again, make millions and millions of dollars per annum on these fees that they charge for doing nothing. Nothing, you say, come on, Ryan, they've got to be doing something. You're right, I'll tell you what they're doing. They're going in and they're doing a setting in your account to draw from your account at the amount that you disclose, 100, 150, 200 and they are assessing a fee for having the smarts to go in and charge you that 5.75% fee. It's highway robbery, it's one of those ways that people just flush their money down the toilet in a naive fashion. I'm here to turn the tables, kick over some stones for you and show you that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that is the path of independent investing. Every dollar that goes to work in my account, they work for me. How the hell do you think I've accumulated the wealth that I've accumulated over really five short years and eight years of self-directed investing? I spent the first 20 years of my investing career screwing up and doing it wrong. Since I get into self-directed investing, it's amazing to identify the power of a liberated dollar and that's all I'm looking to do is share that with you guys. Take advantage, if you want to learn, open your mind. If not, shut the video off and go somewhere else. Number three, trading fees. This is an interesting one. When I started the independent investor channel some many moons ago and 1,000 videos ago, trading fees were actually a thing. They actually were able to differentiate and sell people on the idea that there was a broker-assisted trade. Now, I've come to find out that that still exists. I cannot believe people still pay $24.95 and upwards of $49.95 or more for those broker-assisted trades and you're like, nah, Ryan, come on. We've got Robinhood. Robinhood has saved the day. Yes, but people still need to be aware that there are brokers out there, major brokerage houses, I might add, that still offer the broker-assisted trade to buy and sell stock and people need to be aware of that. The power of the ability to go in, use that conduit through their own brokerage to direct connect themselves to the stock market and trade for free. In a lot of cases, unlimited. There are no incentive thresholds anymore at all. You can be an investor with $500. You can be an investor with $500,000. It doesn't matter. You're both gonna enjoy the same benefits of free trades. Most cases, unlimited. You do not need to be paying for broker-assisted trades anymore. It's a complete waste of time and it is something that we will lay to rest here as something that has died in the industry. Sorry, financial planners. That's just another way that you've learned over many, many decades to attach your money to naive people who sign up and think that they're getting the best service and by lack of proper transparency. And I'm not talking about the disclosure that nobody reads. I'm talking about the lack of transparency where people are dubbed into thinking that you are the only option out there. And that is just not true. Number four, maintenance fees. Industry average from 1% to 3% in the industry. Cumulatively, these fees are coming from somewhere. And if you really wanna puke, go into the disclosure. If you think that your Edward Jones is something special, guys, wake up, go into the disclosure and look at it. And I know the vast number of people out there will be like, look at this blabbing idiot. He doesn't know what he's talking about. Edward Jones would never do me wrong. Wake up. I'm talking to you too. I used to be with them. I have every intention of being transparent on the 43 pages of disclosures that you can find anywhere, open source, on the internet. Some of the things that you pay for through your hidden fees are appalling, retreats, company get-togethers, awards, corporate offices, all these things you pay for. How do you think a company like Edward Jones or any other of the major financial institutions out there make money? They make money off of you and they make money off of three specific, specific letters, A-U-M, assets under management. Now, some many years ago, they changed that term to be assets under care to sound a lot more soft than what it is. One to 3% fees assessed over the course of a lifetime. So investor starts investing at 20 and they look at their investment account at 60. They've invested for 40 years. Over the course of that 40 years, at a 1 to 3% fee structure that's assessed over the life of that fund, will render back the original investor 40% of their own money, 40. You will lose 60%, 60% gone forever, not to be used for your retirement, not to be left for your heirs and legacy, but to build more Edward Jones offices on every corner of every strip mall in this country because people are naive and they seemingly have not woken up to the fact that they are flushing their money down the toilet. Number five and the final is the products that they sell you Garner fees in and of themselves, mutual funds, mutual funds. You gotta have mutual funds, gotta have mutual funds. There's nothing out there that you can buy to give yourself a nice exposure to the market and a nice expected rate of return per year. I say that tongue in cheek because index funds and exchange traded funds have turned that on its cheek. You wanna start to invest in individual stocks, great. That's not gonna cost you anything either but I've seen mutual funds with fees in and of themselves all the way up in between 1.5 and 2% management expense over that. That money comes right out of the top it's absorbed right in the fund. It's a terrible thing. The more terrible thing is if there is incentive to provide or sell you that product when you're sitting down with them it doesn't really speak to the fiduciary responsibility to have your best needs in mind. They have their best needs in mind because somebody sold that young financial planner that has got all of six months of training in the market and looking at financial markets to sell you on an idea that that mutual fund is the absolute best for you. It may perform over time but there's no way that comparatively speaking they're gonna sell you the greatest mutual fund in the world. Furthermore, most of the money managers that manage inside those funds fail to meet the benchmark which is the S&P 500 every single year year in and year out. There might be a few anomalies. There might be a few anomalies where you do 12% the S&P does 11 and you're gonna have those hedge funds and mutual fund managers stepping forward and they're being like, I beat the market you've gotta come with me because I have the secret sauce that nobody else has out there. And that financial planner for recommending that mutual fund to you is gonna receive a kickback in the industry to recommend you the naive customer that's willing to flush your money down the toilet in five different categories that I just disclosed to you in 10 minutes that very products that then they can get a kickback and they can embolden their own lives and increase the assets under management within the firm that they represent. Guys, I appreciate you tuning into the message man. You wanna make sure, subscribe to the channel. You can find me on www.independentinvestorgroup.com Join the group, join the private WhatsApp group. Man, we talk all the time about stock investing. Different strategies, leave your comments at the bottom of the video or I respond to every single comment that I have when I have time. Really hope to strike up a dialogue on the right way to enter into the market which I feel the only way is to cut out the middle man and become an independent investor like myself. And what it could mean for you in liberating your dollars in your own account what it could mean for your family what it could mean for you down the line. Do you wanna be that person that 60 years old looking back on your life and saying wow, I just gave away 60% of my money because I was naive to the fact that over the course of my life I decided to flush my money down the toilet rather than put it to work for me and my own family. Guys, thank you so much for tuning into the message and good luck in your investment future.