Most investors think of risk in terms of what is the possibility that I will lose some of my money over time after purchasing an investment. Risk and return tend to work together. The higher the level of risk that greater potential return on the investment and the lower the level of risk generally equates with the lower rate of return.

An investor’s risk tolerance varies based upon age, investment experience, net worth, income, age, investment time frame, investment objective, liquidity needs, and other factors. Risk tolerance tends to be viewed in categories such as conservative, moderate, or aggressive. Generally, investors with a conservative risk tolerance are adverse to loss of principal and tend to have high need for liquidity in their investments. For example, many retirees have a conservative risk tolerance because they have limited resources for income, need to access funds for health care and other living expenses, and generally do not have time to recover from large losses sustained in their retirement account.

There are many risk tolerance questionnaires available from financial advisors and on the Internet. When establishing an investment or retirement account, you and your advisor should have a discussion about your risk tolerance and how to manage risk in your account.

Properly assessing risk tolerance can reduce the risks associated with investing in securities.  Just because an account or an individual investment has decreased in value does not necessarily mean that a financial adviser has acted inappropriately. At Crary Buchanan, we provide consultations concerning negligence arising from improper financial advice. We invite you to call us to discuss your rights and remedies under the law.

Once you have a lawyer on your side, you can go about your business and not worry about the insurance company trying to damage to your case, right? Wrong! Even though you have a lawyer, the insurance adjuster will still try to get information from you or your friends that can help the insurance company and hurt you.

How does the adjuster do this? He or she uses a computer to search the Internet to for information about you.  The most common searches are on social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and the other sites where people share information about their lives.

You probably have registered and posted personal information on one or more websites as a way to keep in touch with your friends. Some sites allow anyone to view your information; others afford some privacy. Either way, any information you post on these types of social networking sites could end up in the hands of an insurance company and used against you.

Consider a simple photograph. If you have been injured and you post a picture of yourself at a party, laughing or dancing, and the  insurance adjuster obtains the image, it will be used to prove that your life hasn’t changed since your injury. A video of you having a good time is even more powerful in the hands of an insurance company fighting your claim.

If you want to share personal information with your friends, don’t do it online. And don’t discuss your case with your friends. The insurance adjuster can’t talk to you without me present, but this rule doesn’t apply to your friends.  An experienced adjuster knows how to get your friends to reveal what you told them in confidence. If your friends want to know about your case, politely tell them your lawyer told you not to talk about it.