Unfortunately for most of us,  there are more fairytales in the financial industry than there are in a book of nursery rhymes.   At least in a fairytale, the reader/listener is not expected to believe that the stories represent Earth-plane reality.

Here are two basic truths about the financial industry:

     The lines between truth and fairytales, are all-to-often, intentionally covered with invisible ink.

     The average person is usually misinformed about or unschooled in realty economics.   

The net result is that liars, con artists, and leaders of the financial industry have been peddling false, financial advice for centuries.   Have you noticed that in the past ten years, million of people have been swindled, conned, and/or manipulated out of Trillions of Dollars.   

Asset Control:   Do not allow others to control your assets.   If your money is in someone else's control and you really don't know what they are doing with your money, you stand a chance of never getting your investments back.  The Recently exposed, multi-billion dollar swindles are examples of this. ^**msc1   

Do not leave your assets at risk.   If you are engaged in any type of financial activity where significant amounts of money are involved,  c.y.a.  is your watchword.   Do whatever you need to do to protect your assets and your money.   Do not leave large amounts of money in bank accounts.   

Creating Trusts:    An excellent way to protect assets is by using trusts.   If you do not have significant amounts of money, creating a trust may not be practical, see the section below titled:  Participate in Retiree-controlled Retirement Trusts.   

Hold Tangible Assets:   If your money is being held in the form of dollars or in the form of anything that pays in terms of dollars, such as stocks, bond, mutual funds, and the like, your money is at  serious risk in times of political and financial chaos.   Hold most of your assets in the form of tangible goods --  goods that cannot be devalued or destroyed by the activities of others.   As an example, see the section below titled: An example of Prudent Financial Management.

Avoid Promises:   Do not under any circumstances accept payments for future benefits in the form of promises to pay.    Your retirement money is a clear example where demanding here and now payments are prudent and accepting promises of future payments is inviting default on those promises and inviting significant financial losses.  

Hold Security Deposits:   If you choose to accept a promise instead of up front payment, be sure that you hold possession of (or default-legal-title to) something of value to the person making the promise to pay.   Be sure the value of what you hold is significantly more than the value of the promiser's promise.   The real estate lending institutions always do this.   If you are a home owner with a home loan, your home is the bank's way of insuring that you pay back the loan money.

Participate in Retiree-controlled Retirement Trusts:   As an alternative to accepting promises for future retirement moneys, have your retirement money paid every pay period into a professionally managed retirement trust that is owned and controlled by retirees.  Be sure your asset managers do not have any conflicts of interest between managing the trust's assets and making a profit for somebody (including themselves) who is not a trust fund beneficiary.  

Avoid Automatic Withdrawals:   If you have funds in any bank or other financial institution, such as your checking account, never give anybody permission to take money out of your account such as a monthly payment for the purchase of a product or service.   Do not allow automatic withdrawals from your account for any reason whatsoever.   If you want to use an automatic withdrawal service, set up a separate, independent account for this purpose and keep a very limited amount of money in that account.

Two Ways to own Real Estate:   If you own real estate there are only two prudent financial relationships to that real estate that make economic sense.  

One is to own the property free and clear of all loans,   In this form, the property's safety is not dependent on you making mortgage payments.   

The second way to own real estate is to have it mortgaged as much as possible so that if you default on payments, your losses are minimized.   

The Big Real Estate Mistake:   If you own real estate and have considerable equity in your home (i.e. relative to the property value, you have a small loan), that equity is at risk if, for any reason you are unable to make the payments.   Borrower's-equity is one of the first things lenders look for when an owner defaults.   The more equity you have the more likely the banks will play hardball if you get into default.

Is Your Home an Asset or a Liability?   Most people consider their homes to be assets, but is that true?   The answer depends upon your point of view.   According to Robert Kiywosaki (author of "Rich Dad Poor Dad") your personal home is a liability because it brings in no income and cost you money every month.  

If owning your home costs you less than renting an equivalent home, that can be considered a plus, but when you consider the amount of your personal money that is tied up in that home, that plus can, in realty, be a big minus.   

Ask yourself, "What could I do with the money that is sitting in my home?"   Most people don't have an answer to that question, and if you are already invested in your home, you'll probably leave it that way. 

Alternate Investments:   If you are not already a home owner, there are other options to consider for your investment money, such as starting your own business or investing in a corporation that is functioning under The New Corporate World Foundation's Win-Win Business Structure: