Want a gilt-edged tip on why the rich are rich? Well here is one from the Oppenheimer family, and they should know!
Over the past weekend I read the memoirs of retired politician extraordinaire Colin Eglin, entitled Crossing the Borders of Power, which contain some precious gem financial advice.
In the book, Eglin, who played the role of both observer and opponent of the apartheid era, deals with the role of the Oppenheimer family in liberal politics.
In doing so, he mentions that he and a young Cape Town lawyer, Pieter de Kock, who at the time had been appointed as the political personal assistant to Harry Oppenheimer, were invited to dinner with Harry and his father, Sir Ernest.
Eglin relates: "At some stage during the evening Pieter or I ventured a comment about shares. Harry responded by saying that 'of course we don't really dabble in shares on the market, we are long-term investors'. Sir Ernest's response was that he believed that there were only two ways of making money from shares: the one was by using your head, the other by using your bottom. We said we could understand how you could use your head, but how could you use your bottom? With a smile he said: 'You just sit on it'."
Eglin's book, incidentally, is a fascinating insight into the dark years of apartheid and the role of the many players.
Less than sound advice
Sir Ernest's sound advice can be juxtaposed with the advice dispensed by a Michael Shacklock, previously of Ewing Trust Company of Hillcrest in KwaZulu-Natal, who preyed on pensioners by selling them the dud Leaderguard investments.
Two weeks ago, Charles Pillai, the Ombud for Financial Service Providers, ordered Ewing Trust Company to repay pensioners Selwyn and Christine Comrie of Gillitts, near Durban, E28 477 (R275 000) after Shacklock advised them to invest in Leaderguard Spot Forex.
This exploiter of the elderly told another of his victims, who had shown Shacklock a warning article I had written some time before the scam was exposed: "If Bruce Cameron is so bloody smart, why is he still a financial journalist and not a millionaire, like Warren Buffett, who made his millions from currency trading?"
I attempted to ask Shacklock about this and his exploitation of the elderly this week. He refused to answer any of my questions. (Why am I not surprised?)
Not only did he give rotten advice on Leaderguard but Shacklock also has his facts very wrong.
Buffett has the same investment philosophy as the Oppenheimers. He buys wisely and holds on to his quality investments. No currency trader is Mr Buffett.
As for my still being a financial journalist: I am still here because, Shacklock, I believe that the financial services industry needs to be cleaned up and ordinary people should be advised against taking advice from someone like you. They should also be informed of the dangers of buying the sort of dud products, like Leaderguard, that you sold.
So, in a nutshell, if you make the correct decisions upfront and you sit on your investments, you are more likely to retire in financial comfort. I am not saying that you will ever be as rich as the Oppenheimer family or Warren Buffett, who is one of the wealthiest people in the world.
To get to their level of wealth takes a level of financial acumen and entrepreneurship that very few people have. But you will definitely be better off than trying get-rich-quick schemes like the Leaderguard scam sold by Shacklock and more than 200 other financial advisers at a loss of R300 million to investors.