This is Optimal Finance Daily Episode 1901, Financial Locker Room Talk by ESI of ESIMoney.com

and I'm your host and personal finance enthusiast, Diana Mariam.

Now let's get right to today's post and start optimizing your life.

Financial Locker Room Talk by ESI of ESIMoney.com

If you've been listening to ESIMoney for more than 15 seconds, you know that I'm not a big fan of financial advisors.

This stems from a couple of issues. First, I'm a big believer in DIY finances.

The concepts that will make you rich are not that hard to learn, so anyone can do it.

And there really aren't that many things you need to master to become wealthy,

so it doesn't take a lot of time. In fact, if you just read five books and apply what they say,

you'll be ahead of at least 90% of the population. In other words, there's no reason you can't

be your own money manager and be quite good at it. Second, many, or most, financial advisors

aren't really money experts. They're sales experts. They know less about money than most people

listening to this post, but they're awesome at selling and turning your money into their money,

or at least they get a portion of it. A financial advisor is born.

I was at the gym a month ago in the locker room before a workout.

I was getting dressed amid the hustle and bustle of everyone having to rush to work

when I heard two guys chatting in the set of lockers next to mine. It was all pretty innocuous

stuff, family, kids, et cetera, and I wasn't paying attention to them until one guy said,

hey, how's the work situation going? The other guy responded, oh, I forgot to tell you,

I quit. It was just too stressful. I've actually entered an entirely new field. I'm a financial

advisor. I was immediately very interested in this conversation. Lucky for me, the first guy

bit on the information and said, really, I didn't know you had a background in finance.

...