I recently finished the wistleblower story from Harry Markopolis, the guy who notified the SEC and investors for a decade that Bernie Madoff was a fraud.

One word describes my feeling after finishing this book — shameful.  Although this story needed to be told
and Harry Markopolis gives us remarkable insight into the 10 years he tried to
bring down Bernie Madoff, it will not bring comfort to the many who lost their
life savings to this madman.

My takeaways:

–      
Do not rely on
government organizations to protect you from liars and schemers

–      
Always trust
your “little voice” when something is too good to be true

–      
There are
people out there who believe in doing the right thing without being compensated

–      
Never ever
have more than 20% of your portfolio in any one investment mechanism

I hope this lesson lives
on for generations to come and I hope that sweeping changes in our regulatory
system come from this embarrassing 10-year mistake.  I’m sure we will hear a Bernie side of the story sometime
soon but I cannot see any excuse for his actions.

-Mark