On my continuous point of taking a large (for many people I am sure 'greater') role in making investing decisions with respect to your own capital, some time ago a reader took the time to send me a thoughtful e-mail setting out his general views on interacting with investment advisors.

In essence he expressed the view that knowledgeable investors should be encouraged to have specific discussions with their advisors to determine how much those advisors really understand about the various aspects of gold and silver investments, both as insurance and, in the case of mining stocks, as investments (read equity investments generally).

This continues to make sense, and does so well beyond gold and silver investments and trades. Simply put, the more you know, the better position you are in to determine how knowledgeable your investment advisor is - and hence how valuable to you the advice you receive from him/her is to you.

If at any time you are not confident and satisfied in your assessment of your investment advisor's level of knowledge, you ought to find an investment advisor whose knowledge base is at a level you are satisfied with. By not continuously making such 'investor advisor assessments' you do yourself a disservice.