“The Best Things in Life Are Free” is a popular song written by the song-writing team of Buddy DeSylva and Lew Brown and Ray Henderson for the 1927 musical Good News. It enjoyed a revival during the period from 1947 to 1950, when it was covered by many artists (Wikipedia).

I must confess that I do not even know this song, but I used to hear the expression while I was growing up. It always seemed funny, especially as I grew older, because we know that everything in life requires money.

The things that matter to the majority of people are food, shelter, entertainment and health care, and unfortunately none of these things are free. In fact, they are only growing more expensive every day.

So, let us approach the topic with the seriousness it deserves.

The question is: which things in life are free?

Well, air is free, for now.

If you are able to catch rain when it falls, I guess that water would then be free.

Love is free, one cannot pay for that, although some of the things that accompany it can be purchased.

Some beaches are still free to the public (not too many now though).

Kindness, friendship and happiness can’t be paid for.

In a peculiar sense, good health cannot be paid for — you can pay for the best medical care, but unfortunately it is not a guarantee of good health.

The focus of this article is on investment advice.

Did you know that getting investment advice is one of the few free things available to investors? Yes, I shouldn’t even be telling you this, but many a time an investment advisor will pour their heart and soul into a proposal for a client, and it is at no cost to the client. This is amazing!

I would love to see you try that with a doctor or a lawyer!

Of course, if you have friends or family members in the legal or medical professions, you may be able to get words of advice from them, but you dare not go into the office and expect anything free!

Let us list the things that are available to you for free from investment advisors.

Firstly, many a conversation takes place on the phone, and you are not charged for the time. Usually, the advisors give their opinions freely on a wide range of investment options.

Secondly, if after speaking with the advisor you request a written proposal, this is not paid for either. In fact, many people speak to one advisor, then promptly forward the email to another advisor to seek confirmation that the advice proffered is indeed valid. The investor at this point may even take the proposal and go to another investment house to execute the recommendations laid out.

This is typically out of the hands of the advisor and just an accepted industry norm. This in spite of the fact that it may take the advisor quite some time to prepare, and yet they are not compensated.

Thirdly, clients may request research. It may be on a bond or stock that the client already owns or is just considering as a prospective investment. This can also be quite time-consuming for the advisor, who is rarely compensated for his/her time. Once again, the bond or stock may be resident at another investment house.

You may have had a very short list of things in life that you thought were free, but I hope after reading this article that you will add “investment advice” to your list. We are happy that you are able to obtain our services for free and would not have it any other way.

Happy investing!

Yanique Leiba-Ebanks, CFA, FRM is the AVP, Trading & Business Development at Sterling Asset Management. Sterling provides financial advice and instruments in U.S. dollars and other hard currencies to the corporate, individual and institutional investor. Visit our website at www.sterling.com.jm Feedback: If you wish to have Sterling address your investment questions in upcoming articles, e-mail us at: info@sterlingasset.net.jm