Kids Say the Darndest Things!

Especially when they're your retirement account representative.

I received a telephone call out of the blue from my new account rep for my Canada-based retirement accounts. Alex immediately sounded very young: he just had that particular vocal range, a wavering uncertainty in his speech, a lack of the sort of confidence one accumulates with the rigours of life.

The matter at hand wasn't very important. He just wanted to introduce himself, confirm my current address & contact info and generally recommend simplifying my current fund portfolio. I can't argue with any of these points. His youthful inexperience showed itself a few times though when I pointed out that balancing risk and international allocations within my portfolio wouldn't be very useful unless we also examined my US-based 401(k) accounts at the same time: there's no point in shifting a large portion of my Canadian accounts to US-based funds if I'm already over-exposed there with my US accounts. Despite him confirming my US address, it didn't seem to occur to him that I might have retirement accounts here. Observe and learn, young grasshopper!

He tried to sound knowledgeable about the economy in general, pointing out high debt levels in both countries, potential waves of defaults, etc.. I mentioned that I suspected the next market correction would likely be a repeat of the Greek sovereign debt crisis, especially IMHO Spain or Ireland. He was momentarily speechless: I don't think he was expecting anyone to be informed of such things.

After we concluded our telephone call, he emailed me a thank you note for my time. It was a nice touch but he signed it "Alex XXXX, BA (Hons)" Seriously, Grasshopper, no one but the freshest of new grads would bother to mention they graduated with honours in their correspondence closing. No one over the age of 30 would bother mentioning their degree at all.

I was never this young or naive. They're just so gosh-darned precious at this tender age!

Kids Say the Darndest Things!

Especially when they're your retirement account representative.

I received a telephone call out of the blue from my new account rep for my Canada-based retirement accounts. Alex immediately sounded very young: he just had that particular vocal range, a wavering uncertainty in his speech, a lack of the sort of confidence one accumulates with the rigours of life.

The matter at hand wasn't very important. He just wanted to introduce himself, confirm my current address & contact info and generally recommend simplifying my current fund portfolio. I can't argue with any of these points. His youthful inexperience showed itself a few times though when I pointed out that balancing risk and international allocations within my portfolio wouldn't be very useful unless we also examined my US-based 401(k) accounts at the same time: there's no point in shifting a large portion of my Canadian accounts to US-based funds if I'm already over-exposed there with my US accounts. Despite him confirming my US address, it didn't seem to occur to him that I might have retirement accounts here. Observe and learn, young grasshopper!

He tried to sound knowledgeable about the economy in general, pointing out high debt levels in both countries, potential waves of defaults, etc.. I mentioned that I suspected the next market correction would likely be a repeat of the Greek sovereign debt crisis, especially IMHO Spain or Ireland. He was momentarily speechless: I don't think he was expecting anyone to be informed of such things.

After we concluded our telephone call, he emailed me a thank you note for my time. It was a nice touch but he signed it "Alex XXXX, BA (Hons)" Seriously, Grasshopper, no one but the freshest of new grads would bother to mention they graduated with honours in their correspondence closing. No one over the age of 30 would bother mentioning their degree at all.

I was never this young or naive. They're just so gosh-darned precious at this tender age!