Introduction: Why Financial Institutions Hope to Keep You Blind

Chapter 1: A System of Misconception

• How stock brokerage firms deceive us
• Our unquestioned belief of Wall  Street propaganda
• Your core financial beliefs may betray you
• Over focusing on retirement is detrimental to your wealth
• Is your advisor unwittingly spreading misinformation?
• Does traditional financial advice benefit you or Wall Street? 

Chapter 2: Ethics (or the Lack Thereof)

• The history of corrupt mutual fund sales practices 
• Influences that perpetuate corrupt financial advice
• Keeping investments inaccessible benefits firms
• The corrupt practice of pushing proprietary investments
• The corruption of pay-to-play investments 

Chapter 3: The Tax-Deferral Deception: 

• Corrupting motives that affect how your advisor gets paid
• Misrepresenting the true value of your account
• How little of your investment account belongs to you
• Are you paying fees on government assets?
• Will you truly fall into a lower tax bracket at retirement?
• Your retirement depends on the future whims of government taxation 

Chapter 4: The Enemies of Building Wealth

• Disastrous bond returns due to raising interest rates 
• Lies about the stock market’s true returns 
• High market volatility can destroy your retirement income
• Disastrous results of inflation are returning
• The false promise of tax-deferred saving for retirement 

Chapter 5: The Coming Tax Bomb

• The forgotten history of much higher tax rates
• Sobering numbers regarding the U.S. budget deficit
• The out-of-control national debt is looming
• Spending at record rates will cause tax increases 

Chapter 6: The Bogus Math of Tax Deferral 

• Focus on account size diverts attention from spendability
• 401(k)s replace more expensive pension plans
• How little of your retirement account belongs to you
• Roth vs. traditional IRA accounts
• The marginal benefits of tax-deferred retirement
• Why does Wall Street love tax-deferred plans? (Hint: huge fees)

Chapter 7: Other Tax Advantaged Options 

• Do your investments have tax treatment diversification?
• Are your investments protected from inflation?
• Will you pass your tax burden onto your heirs?
• Structure retirement cash flow to eliminate taxes
• How can you delay taxes, then pay at a lower long-term capital gains rate? 

Chapter 8: The Holy Grail for Investment

• The perfect investment checklist
• Can you invest like an institution?
• Growth that may exceed stock market returns
• How to eliminate volatility
• Receive investment interest on money already spent
• In a down market, zero is your hero

Chapter 9: The Naysayers and Bad Press

• Debunk the myths that fuel the financial blind side
• Fees vs. commissions: the real scoop
• Is your advisor deceiving you or simply misinformed?
• Alternative investments strategies under attack
• The ridiculous logic and false comparisons used to lock your money into investments that benefit the providers

Chapter 10: Time for Tequila!

• The fine print the advisors would prefer you not know
• Advisors distract you with irrelevant details
• 14 questions you need to ask your advisor
• How financial salespeople give you what you mistakenly think you need, and perpetuate the financial blind side.

Chapter 11: The Pension Election Dilemma

• Employers are reducing their pension obligations
• Better alternatives for providing for your spouse and heirs
• Pension elections with positive-sounding names, confuse you into reducing your income

Chapter 12: Are all Annuities Scams? 

• The fiction behind income guarantees
• Why your withdraw/income account is not real money
• Income guarantees lock in today’s low interest rates
• What’s the real return of annuities?
• Figures don’t lie but annuities salespeople sure like to confuse buyer

Chapter 13: What the Heck is a MEC?

• Why advisors avoid Modified Endowment Contracts
• MECs win over annuities
• MECs are not fully understood by financial salespeople
• Don’t leave a tax burden to your heirs
• The tax benefits and higher returns of MECs

Chapter 14: 529 Plans Can Increase College Cost

• Why financial institutions push 529 plans for college
• Restructure your savings to reduce tuition cost
• Advisors are not trained to structure finances for college 

Chapter 15: The Pathetic Qualifications of Some Advisors 

• What’s in an advisor’s title? 
• Most financial titles are completely unregulated
• The multiple types of advisor licenses
• How to verify your advisor’s qualification
• Why your financial advisor may have little education in finance, planning or investments

Conclusion: The Negative Effect of Misinformation

• Two families cope with the real world of family finance through a lifespan