gordon murray knows a thing or two about that. for 25 years, he worked for wall street's biggest banks. the investment answer is a 66-page book in plain language. what you need to know to succeed long term in the markets. the opening words? "wall street brokers and active money managers use your relative lack of investment expertise to their benefit, not yours." >> finance is complex. the odds are stacked against you. you need help. i've met nurses, teachers, so many innocent, hard-working americans have lost everything because either a broker or their, even mutual fund has overcharged. >> reporter: he says it wasn't always this way. where did wall street go wrong? >> wall street went wrong, i think, there's a confluence of things, but in the late '70s, illegal and unethical were the same. your word was your bond. the client comes first. those expressions started to be replaced by, as you know, liars and loans. we can hide debt. >> reporter: greed is good. >> greed is good. >> reporter: the surprising thing is that he co-authored

wall street insider gordon murray was faced with that very question after being diagnosed with a brainumor for a second time. murray, who had spent his career on wall street working for goldman sachs and lehman brothers, set off on a mission to level the investment playing field by bringing the knowledge of wall street to the little guy on main street. as david wright reports. >> reporter: for 25 years, gordon murray was one of those wall street masters of the universe. managing huge institutional investments for goldman sachs, lehman brothers a s and other f. >> i wasn't the kid you wanted your daughter to date. i got in touch with the important things, integrity, work ethic. but on the trading floor at goldman sachs, i was -- i slammed phones and was egocentric. i still wasn't a role model. so, we evolve. >> reporter: gordon has long wanted to atone for the sins of wall street. to share the secrets that no one seems to want to tell the little guy. the guy who is just trying to build that nest egg, to have enough money to pay the kid's college education and maybe retirement. so, where

but gordon murray decided to write his book the day he learned the cancer he thought he had beaten was back. a malignant brain tumor. >> had i been, 10, 20, 30 years younger i think i would have probably wallowed in self-pity and got hung up in that. but i was lucky to be in a spot in my life where i had balance. >> reporter: he set to work authoring a how-to guide to self-investing. for 25 years he worked for wall street's biggest banks. the investment answer is a 66-page book in plain language. what you need to succeed long-term in the markets. the opening words, wall street brokers and active money managers use your relative lack of investment expertise to their benefit, not yours. >> i've met nurses, teachers, so many innocent hard working americans who have lost everything because either a broker or their -- even mutual fund has overcharged. >> reporter: he says it wasn't always this way. where did wall street go wrong? >> wall street went wrong -- i think there's a confluence of things, but in the late '70s illegal and unethical were the same. your word was your bond. the client