Too good to be true: I have found over the years that almost everything that appears to be too good to be true generally is. This caused me to develop a philosophy that questions why anyone would want to give me something that is better than anyone else would get, without knowing me.

An adjunct to this philosophy is my belief that I probably do not know more than the average person in anything but the field that I am in. Therefore, I never believe that I have uncovered something by accident that can make me rich.

Free advice is well priced. All of us have relatives and friends who are sure that they are experts in all the financial fields that exist and want to share their "knowledge." This is meant as a favor from them to us and also a way for us to appreciate them to a far greater degree than we do now. With this in mind, be wary of your "Uncle Fred," full of tips "just for you." Free advice may be the most costly advice you will ever receive-whether it comes from your real uncle sitting next to you at Thanksgiving or the guy in the next seat during your morning commute.

The final and most effective way to stop the insanity is not simply to avoid companies whose game plan is to mislead, trick or simply smile as they lie directly into the microphone, but to punish them economically. How in the world can you do that? Make sure that you are as diligent in exposing them as you would be in promoting them.

How many times have you told friends and acquaintances about a great meal, good movie, wonderful cruise or any other fantastic experience? Are you as vocal when it comes to the opposite: a negative experience? I, for one, regularly expose faulty advertising that I see or hear in the financial market in my columns and broadcasts. You can generally tell the perpetrators because they always add a line that is totally over the top. It could be a seemingly innocent statement such as "Nobody can do what ------ can do" or it can be right in your face (I suppose that makes it more realistic) with a comment such as "It's our money and it's our rules." Then there are the out-and-out phonies with commercials that start as if they have interrupted a conversation: "Oh, are we on the air now?" This could possibly work if you heard it once, but by the fourth or fifth time, you have caught on.

Do not suspend your disbelief when commercials are on. "No cost" loans can only work because you end up paying a higher interest rate. With the higher interest rate, the broker gets a bigger rebate and is able to pay your cost for you and still make a profit. I hardly would classify a higher interest rate for the life of the loan "no cost!"

The sad part of all this is that in a free society you are free to be taken in by some, cheated by others, or helped by a few. I am certainly not advocating a new "advertising police" and that is the main reason for my four rules. Freedom means taking care of yourself first and foremost, so have at it.