“You make more money selling advice than following it”
Steve Forbes, publisher of Forbes magazine, said in 1979:
“Also keep in mind when reading advice what this ‘expert’s’ grandfather liked to say: ‘We make more money selling advice than following it.’”
Steve Forbes repeated the line many times. It’s not known when his grandfather—Forbes founder B. C. Forbes—first said the financial aphorism.
Wikipedia: Steve Forbes
Malcolm Stevenson “Steve” Forbes, Jr. (born July 18, 1947) is an American publishing executive who was twice a candidate for the nomination of the Republican Party for president. He is the editor-in-chief of business magazine Forbes as well as president and chief executive officer of its publisher, Forbes, Inc. He was a Republican candidate in the U.S. Presidential primaries in 1996 and 2000. He is the son of longtime Forbes magazine publisher Malcolm Forbes and the grandson of that publication’s founder, B.C. Forbes.
Google Books
Forbes
Volume 110, Issues 1-6
1972
Pg. 13:
We make more money selling advice than following it.
Google Books
Forbes
Volume 123
January-March 1979
Pg. 147:
Also keep in mind when reading advice what this “expert’s” grandfather liked to say: “We make more money selling advice than following it.”
Google Books
Forbes
Volume 126, Issues 8-13
October-December 1980
Pg. 27:
My grandfather’s dictum still holds: “We make more money selling advice than following it.”
26 October 1997, Daily Herald (Chicago, IL), “In the Loop” by Janota & Allen, sec. 1, pg. 8, col. 2:
The magazine publisher added one cautionary note: “But like my grandfather liked to say, you make more money selling the advice than following it.”
15 April 2005, Altoona (PA) Mirror, “Forbes bashes tax code, still pushing for flat rate” by Greg Bock, pg. A5, col. 1:
“My grandfather had a favorite saying,” he told the relatively sparse crowd that showed for the last of this year’s Distinguished Speaker Series. “You make more money selling advice than following it.”
CBS Moneywatch
By LARRY SWEDROE / MONEYWATCH/ May 21, 2010, 7:00 AM
You Make More Money Selling Advice Than Following It
Steve Forbes once said, “You make more money selling advice than following it. It’s one of the things we count on in the magazine business—along with the short memory of our readers.” Goldman Sachs showed just how true that is.
Zero Hedge
Biases, Biases Everywhere
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/16/2013 20:11 -0400
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COMMENTS
AlaricBalth
Sat, 02/16/2013 - 20:59
Steve Forbes once said, “You make more money selling advice than following it. It’s one of the things we count on in the magazine business—along with the short memory of our readers.”
This axiom is the bedrock of the financial services industry.