One of the other drawbacks of working in financial services, was that I couldn't write about what I was seeing and experiencing. That was a strict no-no. If I saw things I didn't agree with, things that struck me as wrong, even dangerous, I couldn't say a damned thing about it.
Even things that were fine, I couldn't write about, because it might be taken the wrong way, and nobody was allowed to speak "out of turn" for fear that MMNFSC might have its reputation compromised. "Don't do/say anything that can show up on the front page of the Wall Street Journal!" was the main guideline. I'm telling you, people were absolutely obsessed about being on the front page of the WSJ. Not exactly paranoid... well, maybe a little.
Anyway, I learned a whole lot in those 10 years in the center of the storm. But what I knew and learned was off-limits to the rest of the world. It was only to be kept in the family. Strictly confidential. Even the potentially helpful things that could have aided investors in making wiser decisions about their investments... the gag rule was in order, because the legal departments (usually more than one) had to review everything that went out to the world that was related to finance and investing, etc. That held true for employees both at the company and in their own private lives and communications.
Now, I'm sure that the rules and regulations make perfect sense when you're talking about one of the planet's largest financial services companies. But it was a serious crimp in my style. Because I like to write. I like to share what I know and what I learn. I like to enlighten other people about stuff -- especially money things. I love money -- I'm not ashamed to say it. So many possibilities exist when you have money... many, many more than if you don't. And it's also one of those areas where people have huge issues -- based (I believe) largely on ignorance and being aggressively misled by people who want to separate them from their money.
I also love investing. I love seeing the numbers move and shift and change, and I love seeing what the market tells us about ourselves as a human race. I love it all. And I love to write about it. A lot.
But so long as I was employed by MMNFSC, there was no way I could do that -- I couldn't talk, couldn't write, couldn't share. Every time someone approached me about some investing topic, I had to not engage with them, saying I was not a financial advisor and I was not qualified to discuss anything with them. Because I was an employee of MMNFSC, people seemed to think that I knew a lot of stuff. And I did. But not the kinds of stuff they thought I did. I knew more about how things worked on the inside. I knew more about how audiences and target consumer markets were identified, how messages were massaged and tweaked to produce better response rates. I knew more about how the inner workings of the system were put together, than any particulars about a certain company or fund or type of investment.
I knew -- long before they became fashionable -- that annuities were a much better idea than stashing your retirement savings in a mutual fund managed by some hot-shot 26-year-old with a secret algorithm and a serious case of ADHD.
But I couldn't say a damned thing about it. Because I wasn't qualified. And because if I said anything, somebody could get into trouble -- me, for one.
Now, however, this is no longer an issue. I'm independent. And I'm delighted about it. I met an independent trader at a party the other night, and just talking with them for 15 minutes reminded me all over again about how much I love my independence, and how much I really love money. I love the markets. I love the freedom that money can bring, and I love the freedom that blogging as an independent (and somewhat anonymous) individual offers me.
It's all good.
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