Exactly right.  I made an experimental venture giving a small part of my capital to a FA who managed a portfolio of preferreds.  That turned into a bust in very short order, less than a year, while my personal-private performance with blue chips was doing great (and continues to do so).  It bugged me to no end that I had a bozo for a FA who was collecting 1.5% on the value of my portfolio, not on how much the portfolio made,  while being given the pleasure of losing money.  I was paying him big-time MER while I bore all the investment risk.  Well, that didn't last long and I was lucky to break even when I got out.  That money has since been raking at least 5% on eligible Canadian equities.  The sad thing for "Louise" is that she went 10 years before realising she was getting nowhere.  In the vernacular, you only live once so it's doubly sad that she irrecoverably wasted both her time and nest egg.

Bazz, I agree completely.  YOU DON'T NEED A FINANCIAL ADVISOR!