After almost 20 years of working in the personal finance space, my single most important learning is this: it is not possible for an average retail investor to buy financial products without advice. Shifting the burden of decision making and choice to the consumer of financial products hides the mala fide intent of a global financial industry, which is always steps ahead of regulators, never mind consumers. I’ve just been through a round of financial literacy workshops across the country and the sheer helplessness of the average consumer is palpable. It is manifested as anger, fear and an overall feeling of having been cheated.