By Erwin J. Shustak, Esq.  of Shustak Reynolds & Partners, P.C. posted on Wednesday, October 7, 2015.

Erwin J. Shustak

Managing Partner

Location: San Diego, California
New York, New York
Phone: (619) 696-9500 (Ext. 109)
(800) 496-5900 (Ext. 109)
Email: [email protected]

Ray Lucia, Sr. is a San Diego based “financial adviser” whom the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) barred from the securities industry in 2013 and fined he and his firm $300,000.00 for allegedly misrepresenting a retirement investment “strategy” known as the “Buckets of Money” program.  Last month, the SEC voted to uphold that decision which strongly criticized Lucia and his deceptive “Buckets of Money” sales pitch.  Lucia’s son, Ray Lucia, Jr.,  still operates as a financial adviser in San Diego under various firms including RJL Capital Management, RJL Wealth Management and Lucia Securities, some of the same firms with which his father, Ray Lucia, Sr. was associated.

Ray Lucia, Sr. still hosts a radio show based in San Diego and syndicated nationally on which he touts his “Buckets of Money” strategy.  He also has written a number of books about his “Buckets of Money” strategy to wealth accumulation and retirement.  The SEC, which barred Lucia from being an investment advisor, or associating with investment advisers, brokers or dealers, found that Lucia used unrealistic inflation scenarios to “back test” his strategy, which inflation rates were fabricated to fit his projections and not based on historical data, determining his ”back tests” were neither honest nor accurate. 

While Lucia has been barred from the securities industry, his Broker Check, available on FINRA’s web site, www.finra.org, lists, in addition to the decision of the SEC to bar him from the securities or financial industry, over 19 customer complaints, litigations and arbitrations, aggregating millions of dollars of claims, from former clients who allege he and the firms with which he was associated, committed fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentation and other alleged unfair and unlawful sales practices in connection with the sale of various securities and investments.  Most of the complaints relate to Lucia’s strong arm sales of high commission, illiquid investments in non-publicly traded real estate investment trusts.  Many of the complaints also named two broker dealers with whom Lucia was associated, including Securities America and First Allied.  The SEC found that Lucia used his “Buckets of Money” pitch to sell hundreds of millions of dollars of illiquid, but high commission products to his clients, many of whom lost substantial portions of their net worths when those investments failed.

Shustak Reynolds & Partners has been contacted by a number of Lucia’s former and current clients who believe they have been defrauded into losing substantial portions of their hard earned retirement funds through Lucia’s financial abuse and his “Buckets of Money” pitch.  If you are, or were a client of Lucia’s, and were sold on his “Buckets of Money” strategy, contact us to arrange a confidential, no-cost consultation to see if you were victimized and have viable claims for recovery of lost or failed investments.

Shustak Reynolds & Partners, P.C. has extensive expertise and experience in the areas of securities, financial services and business law.  For more information, contact Erwin J. Shustak, Esq, Managing Partner, at 619.696.9500 or via email at [email protected].  

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