I'm more than a little concerned that the recent election is going to pull a lot more people into investing in cryptocurrency -- most of whom probably are nowhere near as savvy as they need to be to avoid getting fleeced by scammers. I hear constantly from people who poured their savings or kids' college fund into crypto, only to see it all stolen when they clicked the wrong button or link.
You know what the typical answer is from the feds? We're drowning here. Just too many cases. These thefts are often $500K or more, and the frequency of them is rapidly increasing the monetary loss thresholds that would normally get law enforcement's attention.
Also, tons of people are now pouring money into the market, which is already vastly overpriced by almost any measure. Here are some sage words from a WSJ story today about how "investors are betting on a market melt-up:"
"One measure closely tracked by investors, the equity risk premium—or the gap between the S&P 500’s earnings yield and that of 10-year Treasurys—shrank close to zero, the lowest level since 2002, according to Dow Jones Market Data. That means the reward for owning stocks over bonds is dwindling."
“The market is awfully expensive to have a melt-up,” said Rob Arnott, the founder and chairman of Research Affiliates."
https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/investors-are-betting-on-a-market-melt-up-3a007dd4
This may sound harsh, but those investing their life savings in to say crypto, they are adults, they should know the risks etc.
We have a TV programme in the UK, it is about people buying property at auction, usually as property developers, one of the things that the presenters keep reminding people 'read the legal pack' as that has all the info about the property, any issues, covenents or otehr restrictions.
I am NOT an expert, but surely it is important to invest but do so after taking solid advice on the subject before hand.
Yeah, I guess people just need to be careful
@briankrebs @zleap my general thoughts on money items: Learn yourself and don‘t listen to a banker or financial advisor. If he is any good, he would be so rich that he would not have to work giving advice. Case closed your honor.
Great point
@zleap
What if those providing the advice, are the ones ripping you off? Then sell your details to other scammers, to rip you off more.
@zleap I think most people could count themselves lucky if they were smart or intuitive enough to find someone who was capable of giving them solid advice on the market, as opposed to just chasing short-term gains.
Solid advice right now is adjust future investment dollars/returns more toward bonds, which have had a rough spell recently but almost certainly will do well soon when the market suffers the inevitable series of corrections.