Who needs a financial advisor anyway?

A fool and his money ... are soon parted by scumbags

"The suit alleges that the H&R Block Company steered hundreds of thousands of its clients, including almost 30,000 New Yorkers, into IRAs that were virtually guaranteed to lose money because of a combination of hidden fees and low interest rates.

The conduct described in today’s complaint is particularly appalling because many of those hardest hit were working families who struggle to save,” Spitzer said. “Instead of providing these families with accurate information that would have allowed them to make informed choices, H&R Block steered them into retirement accounts that actually shrank over time.”

The Attorney General’s office began the investigation in 2005 after receiving information from an H&R Block tax preparer.

Over the past four years, H&R Block opened more than half a million “Express IRA” accounts for its tax preparation clients. Customers were told that the IRA paid “great rates”and was “a better way to save,” but 85 percent of the customers who opened the accounts paid the company more in fees than they earned in interest. More than 150,000 H&R Block customers closed their accounts, incurring additional undisclosed fees, as well as nearly $6 million in tax penalties"

Story

Man, people are scum in all walks of life. I experienced something similar to this at a well known investment place. I wanted a safe place for a big lump of cash I had until I bought a house. He called me up and showed me a fund that paid like 3 or 4% GUARANTEED. It seemed like what I wanted, and was about to sign up when I decided to read the small print. There was a mgmt fee that woulda knocked the interest down to less than 1%! Fucker! He played dumb when I showed him that. Either he's an asshole or an idiot, needless to say, I do my own investment from now on. The only other investment guy I had showed me how to lose 10K in the dotCom crash. Thanks for the expert advice!