At a pre-retirement course recently I was bothered, repeatedly, by bogus arguments made by financial "advisors" who gave presentations to the class on investments, estate planning, insurance, taxes, and related issues. It was hard to tell whether these speakers were actually ignorant or just pretending to be so. Among the key fallacies:

• ignoring the time-value of money
• failing to adjust for inflation
• brushing over risk and uncertainty
• hiding commissions and fees
• concealing front-load expenses and cancellation penalties
• promoting a focus on tax avoidance rather than net result

And sadly, it was clear from audience comments that many of the students had bought into similar scams over the years. Yes, if you're an expert it's legal to take advantage of people who don't know as much as you do—but is it right?

(cf. MoneyWisdom (2001-05-20), Financial Planning (2008-03-15), ...) - ^z - 2010-11-02