Beware of advice offered over cocktails.
By Debra Phillips
Die-hard "Seinfeld" fans may recall an early episode
in which perennial underachiever George Costanza gives comedian
Jerry Seinfeld a "hot" stock tip. With reservations,
Seinfeld invests in the stock and watches with horror as its value
plummets. The moral of the story? Unsolicited advice is unlikely to
leave you laughing all the way to the bank.
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Nowhere, perhaps, is the potential for bad advice more prevalent
than at that most elbow-rubbing of gatherings--the cocktail party.
"Cocktail parties make people more vocal about `I'm doing
great; I don't have any down stocks,' " observes
Chris Flanagan, senior vice president of Boston-based Mellon
Private Asset Management. "It might make somebody who's on
the listening end of this more courageous."
You might get other types of advice--say, tips on where to open
a second location of your business. But given a healthy economy and
a nationwide fixation on the stock market, it's clear that
investment leads set the most tongues a-wagging.
So . . . want a hot tip on how to deal with
all those Warren Buffett wanna-bes? Always keep this in mind, says
Flanagan: "Your investment objectives aren't necessarily
the same as those of the person giving advice." What's
more, think twice before opening your mouth.