Financial Advice: Whom Do You Trust?

I was reading my copy of Consumer Reports Money Adviser recently, and found and interesting graphic. It contained the results of a survey done by the publication of its readers. Here was the question:

Given the current economy, whom do you trust most for financial advice?

I thought the results were interesting:

• 24% trusted financial planners
• 11% trusted financial journalists
• 8% trusted the tax accountant
• 8% trusted Warren Buffett
• 1% trusted stockbrokers

I would trust a stockbrocker either. But most interesting to me was that 48% trusted “none of the above”. Hardly surprising in these times. It seems to me the best thing to do is to get a range of opinions and educate yourself about money and how it works, and then make financial decisions based on what works best for you.

image source: sxc.hu