What are your thoughts on the Madoff ponzi scheme? Do you think your investments will be affected by it? In what way? Why do you think Madoff was able to get away with it for so many years? What do you think would be a good way to prevent future ponzi schemes?
Tags: Bernard Madoff, Madoff, ponzi scheme
I think the ponzi scheme that Bernard Madoff used to dupe investors of their money is no different than any other multi-level marketing plan, such as Amway. Unless you are on the first few initial levels of the company your future earnings are minimized at best.
In no way will this have any effect on my investment due to it not having a monetary value. My most cherished investment is my family. Rather than risk my earnings for some materialistic dream, I have all I need in my wife, children, and grandchildren.
He got away with it for such a long time because of greed, but more importantly, because of Congress. As long as the capitol gain “gravy train” produces such a lucrative profit for investors and a steady stream of tax revenue for the government Congress will always look the other way. As such, this event, along with the collapse of the banks, the Government had an obligation to warn its people, but failed to do so. Greed!!!!
The best prevention of future scams, along with many other social and financial woes would be term limits for all politicians, the elimination of lobbyist, and campaign finance reform. As long as people have the opportunity to influence, corruption will always prevalent.
Bernie Madoff is a total fraud who made thousands of people, organizations, and charities from all over the world lose 50 Billion dollars plus. The 50 billion dollars, is what we know now, but like most investigations the total will probably go up. It is despicable that one guy that all these people trusted with their money was such a liar, and fraud. I totally feel for the people that put all their money into this Ponzi scheme not knowing what they were getting involved in. Even though the investigators are focusing on just Bernie Madoff, there must have been more people who were involved than just him in this scheme, because it’s the largest ponzi scheme ever. There is no way that one guy, could have done this despicable act alone. He should not be able to stay at his multimillion dollar pen house in New York City,with his silly ankle bracelet while people that lost a lot or everything are contemplating what to do next. Madoff should be in jail while investigator look into the scheme, and hopefully the judge in this case will hand down a tough sentence
This scheme by Bernie Madoff will not only affect me but it will affect everybody. The reason why it will affect everyone is because of the magnitude of this ponzi scheme, as I said before it affected thousands of people, organizations, and charities around the world. A lot of schools were affected by this scheme so schools will have to cut back, on research, and less important things. A lot of large corporations, banks, and charities were involved in this ponzi scheme to, they lost billions of dollars, so now charities who thought there was money in the bank to give to needy people, will have to give less to less people. People are now wondering after this ponzi scheme, and with the market as it is if their money is safe. People don’t know now what investment companies are safe now because a lot of people thought the Madoff investment companies were great, but you know now that it was a giant fraud.
I think the reason why Madoff was able to get away with this scheme for so long is because no one that was in the scheme was complaining or raising concerns about anything because they were getting returns, so they were happy. People in this scheme were suckered in and kept on investing until some invested all they had. The people in the scheme thought the returns were never going to stop so they kept investing until it was too late, and they lost everything. Another reason why Madoff ponzi scheme was able to survive so long is because Madoff was able to stay under the radar of the SEC, and other regulatory agencies because he had a high profile on wall street, and he was the co-founder, board chairman, and the governor of the NASDAQ is the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. In 1992, the SEC investigated one of Madoffs phony companies for unregistered securities but found nothing wrong so his scheme kept on rolling getting bigger and bigger. No one in the company complained when the company went belly up because everyone got their money back. Later in 2005, the SEC investigated Madoff and found 3 violations but they said it wasn’t major and it wasn’t for concern. That is ridiculous that they say that 3 violations is not major, I wonder what the SEC would consider major or how many violations a company would need to investigate them fully? If the SEC, or other regulatory agencies would have caught Madoff back in 1992, when the SEC first had red flags fly up on Madoff, how many thousands or millions of people, companies, and charities would still have something?
A way to avoid this scheme from happening again would be to have the SEC checking the books of all major and small investment companies more thoroughly than they are now. The SEC checks smaller investment companies more carefully then the larger ones. They should be checked all the same, and if there are any red flags that pop up, even one, that company big or small, should be investigated fully even if at the end of the investigation they find out nothing is wrong, the SEC should still look at every investment companies big or small so there is never again a ponzi scheme that affects so many people.
The first thing that comes to my attention when i hear of the Madoff Ponzi scheme is that did he really think he was actually going to get away with it. It must have crossed his mind that one day, sooner or later, or even very later, people would find out and send him to jail. I belive at first he went in thinking it will be short term and then I think greed took over him and he got lost in it, which lead him to keep doing it and then later get caught. I think some ways to prevent from becomming a victim in this type of scheme is to number one, diversification dont keep all your funds in one place. Also to always check on your funds and request statments and lastly if it seems to good to be true it probally is and you should not risk it.
The fact that our own SEC failed to figure this guy out for decades shocks me. What Bernard Madoff did will not just affect the US economy, but also global markets. And as a result, thousands of people will be punished for his greed. It makes you question just how much money in the stock market is non existent. I don’t think power should be handed out to everyone. Rather a better system of self-governance, checks and balances and no monopolies. I believe that a better Balance of power and accountability should be within these powerful financial institutions that affect the entire world. Because of this Ponzi scheme we have to thank Bernard for contributing a big chunk to our recession.
Bernard Madoff, is a seventy-year-old financier and Charmin whom was trusted, intelligent, and knew the business. And this is why he was able to get away with the scheme for so long. Unfortunately some people tend to forget that intelligence is power and not always put to good use. It humors me that people did not realize what was going on sooner then they did considering that Bernard was delivering a substantially better return than everyone else, since that was the case as an educated investor wouldn’t you want to know how that was possible. Just like everything else in life if it sounds too good to be true. It’s because it is.
What I don’t understand is how people put everything or a substantial portion of their assets in that one investment account and left themselves open to that kind of loss. Investors should spread their money around to avoid 100% losses. Oh, and of course, don’t invest what you can’t afford to lose. What’s that old saying? Don’t put all your eggs into one basket. To avoid being a victim of such schemes don’t allow financial consultants to sway you into investments that you don’t understand. In other words know the product. And always get a second opinion. People should keep up with their investments. I think that a high percentage of the world actually forgets that it’s THEIR MONEY. There is a reason why you receive a statement in the mail. I work for a financial institution and am dumbfound to know how many people don’t understand the product they are enrolled in, and or ever open their statements/ read disclosures.
The way I see it is that if you’re not paying attention to your own assets what makes you think someone else is. If you hand your money to someone or some institution, don’t just forget about it. Keep track of your money, otherwise, laziness will eventually come back and bite you. This Ponzi scheme was nothing more then a method of robbing Peter to pay Paul. And In my opinion many were well aware that something illegal was under ropes but instead chose willful blindness over ethics.
I feel what Madoff did was immoral. He upset so many peoples lives and families. I do think that my investments would be affected by it. My investments would be affected by loss of income and would limit my retirement opportunities. I think Madoff was able to get away with it for so many years because of the way he presented his investment portfolio. He used tact to delude his clients. I suppose a good way to prevent future ponzi schemes is to have more security measures and to have a more stern system.
My thoughts on the Madoff ponzi scheme is its such a sad and cruel thing what he doing. I cant believe he got away with it for so long and hurt so many people that trusted him. To prevent future ponzi schemes, people have to be on top of there work and investigate in any kind of changes in records and keep a close eye on financial accounts.
The Bernald Madoff ponzi scheme doesn’t surprise me. If someone can get a taste of that much money they get greedy and start to only think of themselves. He is a very smart guy, thou, you have to admit. He figured a way to scheme $50 billion in loses. I feel like he probably got away with it for so long because he had a lot of trust in his investors. Also he probably had many inside people that helped him. I think that the only way something like this wouldn’t happen again is if there is more outside security precautions. I think people are always going to find ways around them. Madoff was sneaky and good at it. Anyone can do just a worse or better job too.
I believe that the Madoff ponzi scheme is a shock and a shame. Families that had their life savings in the investements of the company lost it all. Celebrities such as Larry King loosing over a million dollars and organizations and charities as well. A total 50 billion dollars is known so far, however, I think this is just the icing of the cake. Madoff is a business man, he knew all the tricks in the book in all directions. He played banks and fellow business man in the industry like little toys. I just can’t believe that he did that. He has no ethics and go hearth. He got caught up in the money and wanted more. I just can’t imagen how people with degrees in business that are successful are feeling right now. Knowing that their money and minds were played with. How will you feel if you had a degree from the tops schools of the USA and were allways the top student. All of a sudden a person comes around and shows you that you were not that smart. That most hurt.
Not only was Madoff’s scheme immoral, but it was incredibly thoughtless, reckless, and done with complete disregard of the financial damage it would cause to so many investors, companies, and banks both foreign and domestic. Because this was one of the largest, if not the largest, cases of investor fraud, it will most likely have a profound effect on the economy and investor confidence as a whole. This means that my investments, and the investments of many others will suffer, at least in the short-run. Greed on Madoff’s part and a false sense of security on the investor’s part is probably what allowed him to get away with this for so long. The only way I can think of to stop these types of schemes from happening is government regulation. Many people will disagree with that because of constitutional law, but the government already plays a sizable role in the economy, and if something isn’t done soon investors will have more to worry about than their rights being violated.
The Bernard Madoff scandal is going to result in countless ripples effects on Wall Street in reguards to individual investors opinion of money managment. Its unfortunate that many poeple, corporations and financial institutions lost most if not all of their money, due to one man’s greed and dishonesty. In addition to hurting these victims his actions are going to make it much more difficult for any one in the financial services to build there clients trust. This scandal is not just known to those in the financial field, it has reached mainstream proportions.
Currently right now I do not have any investments in the market, I do not think this is going to affect my opinion of all financial advisors. Eventually when I do decide to have investments I do not think this event will directley effect my investments since there is going to be increased security regulations.
He was able to get away with this due to the fact he was very persuasive and he devised a system an effective system of defrauding. Prior to this there was very little in depth regulation which allowed him to continue this scheme. His scheme was so well thought out that he was able to take advantage of institutions such as HSBC and individuals like Fred Wilpon (owner of the NY Mets). His scheme was exposed due to the unfortunate circumstances of the stock market over the last year. If it wasn’t for market losses, who knows how long he would have been able to continue his scheme?
In order to prevent future occurances such as this, it will be individual investors and the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) job to look into advisors and money mangers. The SEC will most likely develop regulations that will allow them to have more oversight into money managers business practices. As investors, we will also have to ensure that ethical actions are being taken and look out for any signs.
The Madoff Ponzi scheme is arguably the biggest scam in Wall Street history. Unfortunatly for the countless corporations, people, and financial institutions invested all their money in this one dishonest man.
I do not have any investments in todays market, so i don’t think that it will affect me in the ways that it affects a lot of other people. Also, i do not think it will play a role in my future investments in the market.
Madoff got away with this scam for so long, and he probably did this by working his fake personality to get his clients to overly trust him.
In the future, a way to prevent schemes like this is to to background checks, by checking bank statements and things like that. Also, to have more than one main person working for the company so one of them can report misconduct of their coworker
As far as the Madoff Ponzi scheme goes, i think one of the major reasons he was able to keep it going for so long was because he was at such a high position. Not too many ppl would be breathing down his neck or questioning what he is doing. However, especially the investors, should have been. In my opinion, if someone is asking you to invest any kind of money no matter how much they ask for, it most likely is in their best interest than in the investors. Ask questions from the very beginning and always pay close attention to records and financial statements. Make sure they are accurate and are backed up.
As far as it affect me, i dont have any investments right now sooo i think im good. But it has obviously made me a bit more aware, and made it so that if i ever do go to invest in anything i would first educate myself to know the ropes before getting caught up in someone else.
Bernard Madoff is certainly a very intelligent man. I have heard of the Madoff Ponzi scheme recently on the news and it really didn’t catch my attention too much. This seems to be somewhat regular these days. People are always trying to take the “easy” way out and make a quick buck. I just don’t understand why someone as smart as Madoff would try to pull off such a large scam. I’m sure his salary was enough to live on and then some. The investors are partly to blame though. When you invest money in any market, it is essentially gambling. Most people take that as you are gambling with the swin in market value of your funds, but there are also other risks like this one. All in all though, despite screwing over a lot of people, he ended up out smarting him self.
My thoughts on the Bernard Madoff Scheme are that he was good at what he did. I think that it is quite interesting on how he had kept getting people in invest with him and they trusted him. The reasons for which he was able to get away with it since he had so much trust with his “clients”. He had a strong connection with big name investors so people had thought that he must be good since he had known so many people within the business.
This just goes to show how a little carelessness can end up costing you a fortune. This isn’t the first time something like that has happened, and unless everyone is painstakingly meticulous from now on, it will most likely happen again and again and again. What his clients percieved him to be turned out to be far from anything they thought imaginable at the time. They took the risk of investing their money in him, and paid the price because of it. If there was a more circumspect approach towards Bernard Madoff, they may have evaded such substantial losses, but that was not the case. As for the effect it has on me….. little to none.
Although Madoff made billions of dollars, Madoff was able to get away with this scheme for a long period of time because no one that was involved in this scheme was complaining about anything, because they were getting what they wanted in return, so they were satisfied. Although this gave him a terrible outlook, the man had to make his money. I’m not saying it was a good thing but he as well had to eat. I’m sorry for all that lost their money
Kevin Webber
January 26, 2009
Marketing
I think the Madoff ponzi scheme was a bad way to go about making money. It was clever however as he used investors against each other to cover their “lost money”. I don’t have any investments yet however I can imagine that it provides nothing but problems for those who lost millions of dollars to this man. Madoff was able to get away with the scheme for many years due to hush money for some employers. In addition he brought in new investors and used their money to pay off old investors while still making a profit. In the end the fraud is barely worth the trouble this man caused for him self and others, he even seems to be trying to cover his tracks in jail as he gives his close workers a raise. In order to prevent future ponzi schemes it is important to keep track of all investors and their clients and weather or not the people are satisfied or lose money mysteriously. If there seems to be a trend in those who have an issue with a leader in the industry then precautions must be taken to look into each problem and determine a cause. Fifty billion dollars does not seem like an amount to loose track of, never mind let that much money affect that many people.
One of the things that bugs me about this whole situation is how Madoff is being treated now. Is house arrest in a multi-million dollar Manhattan [sp?] penthouse punishment? It doesn’t sound too uncomfortable to me…
For someone who has jipped so many people of so much money for such a long time, he needs to be in jail NOW on bread and water rations, and paying his “rent” through hard labor. I know I am a hard-nose, but really, people like him disgust me!
I have no investments, and don’t think I will. Not just because of this particular situation, but because of the uncertainty of them. Peope can do really well with them, but they can lose them just as fast. I prefer the security of knowing where my money is, and having access to it whenever I want it.
Conmen have always existed-they will always exist.This does not surprised me…I’m more interested in understanding the psychology of the “victim”, (I use the word loosely, though). People who put all there eggs in one basket-make no sense to me- by the age of 2 my parents taught me never, ever, ever, ever, put all your eggs in one basket, no matter what!!!!!!And what about the fund managers for charities, in some cases putting most or all the funds , again, in one basket. Seems as if we’re shorting all the circuits here.
The timing of this, coincidently or not, with the stock market decline, and the buy and hold mentality, instead of by low, sell high (yeah, I know, you can’t time the market, blah blah) should let everyone stand back a moment and take stock “sic” of what it means to save money for the future. STOCKS=GAMBLING. Financial Investment brokers=Someone selling you a casino betting system. In the long run, you can’t beat Vegas-only momentarily. If BY CHANCE, your using a BETTING SYSTEM, and you win, (as statistacally you will, short term), you say the betting system works. If by chance, your Financial advisor told you to sell stocks, coincidently, at a high point, he’s a genius! That can and will happen, but just as in Vegas, by chance theire will be winners and losers, the real winners in both situations are the ones that GET OUT WHILE THEIR AHEAD-but be honest, while gambling, even when you’re ahead, you keep going until you fall behind. Same thing w/ stocks, you think that they just keep going up and up and up, well- they went down, and you did not sell while they were up. So all you folks that lost money in the market will be looking for the next MADOFF, chasing you lost market gains- good luck!
i think Bernie Madoff is miz! He cheated alot of people and got alot of money from greed and fraud! Then he gets caught and gets the pent house of punishment?!! He needs to be thrown in a jail cell! He should not be treated like a diamond. He did alot of horrible things and he deserves to be thrown in a hole! ill never associate with anyone from that family or business. He went on for a long time because people working for him got what they wanted and everything was dandy…for them.
I think he will get what he has comming to him, an 8×10 cell. He deserves to be thrown in jail for what he did. I dont think my investments will be affected by this, only because I dont invest money at this point in my life, But it does give me second thoughts. I think he got away with it after all this time because he was a well educated trustworthy man in the eyes of people. This could be avoided if people dont put all their eggs in one basket and seek advice from a professional.
I’m not too familiar with the whole scenario. I obviously saw pieces of it on the news but I didn’t look too far into the whole thing. As far as my investments being affected, I’m not worried at all because I have no investments. I’m sure he got away with it for so long because he had the key operation of how to beat the system and fool everyone blind. However, now that he got caught, I hope he loses everything he has and ends up on the street holding a “I’m hungry” sign and an empty dunkin donuts cup
Ive seen this kind of thing happen someone stole from my dads reality company and invested this money in stocks and things and lost all the money. People that steal like that should really be locked up in a sense so that they get what they have done and show the people that its wrong for doing so.
I’m not 100 % sure of what really happened with the whole Madoff scheme, but i believe he got a way with it for so long because no one expected it and it wasn’t really an issue that needed to be looked in to because it wasn’t obvious that it was happening. I know he is in a lot of trouble already, but they should add on more for him sending all his assets out to family when they should have been frozen. I think that all investors should be reviewed so we can find out how many of them are really scamming people.
I feel that the Ponzi scheme was a very misfortunate occurence but everyone has to realize that he is not the first nor last person to think of an extremely elaborate scheme to steal money from loans and cause billions of dollars to go missing. It did not affect me in any way but I know some people who were affected by this scheme and it means that we investors need to be careful and not get duped into investing in companies and stocks that arent real and they must keep an eye on where their money is going. Hopefully in the future this will not happen again because our financial market cannot take these hits anymore without giant repercussions.
Well I think it depends if ones personal investments would be affected by this unless you were someway associated with his investment company but I’m sure it had a domino effect on many things and people. I think he got away with it for so long for a few reasons. One the economy wasn’t in as bad of shape back then but as things declines investigations started. And depending on the type of investments others made it may have taken this long to show its true colors. I think we need to regulate and keep a closer eye on such firms. Another way we might prevent it is to make a huge example of Bernard Madoff. Such as .. uhh.. can we restart to the olden days where we hang people? People this greedy don’t deserve to be apart of this country. Send him to a third world country, show him how good he had it here and how he didn’t need to be so greedy.