Mel Abraham#1 Best Selling Author, Money Mentor

2 Questions to Ask Before Any Investment

20 Oct 2026 · 1 min

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In this brief video, Mel Abraham shares a personal filter designed to protect investors from costly mistakes. He proposes two essential screening questions to ask before committing any money: (1) Can you describe the investment in plain English on a napkin, covering where the money goes, how it generates returns, and how those returns reach you? If you cannot, the investment is likely too complex and may hide fees or losses. (2) Is the person selling the investment a fiduciary, legally obligated to prioritize your interests over their own commission? A negative answer signals a red flag. Abraham emphasizes that complexity is often a smokescreen for hidden costs and that these two questions can save investors a decade of pain.

Chapters

Let me save you a decade of pain with a filter I use. Before you put a dollar into anything, I want you to ask 2 questions. One, can you explain this investment in plain English in 2 sentences on the back of a napkin? If you can't explain where the money goes and how it makes money and how the money comes back to you, you don't understand it and you have no business putting your future inside of it. Complexity is exactly where the fees and the losses actually hide. And that's the game that they're playing. It's smoke and mirrors. 2, is the person selling it to you a fiduciary, legally required to put your interests ahead of their own commission? If the answer is anything other than an immediate yes, you already have your answer.