How to not get ripped off in your line of business...

[RR]

I have mentioned this before in B&M< but it seems relevant to this thread. I work in poker and some people that working poker treat tournament like a license to steal. The first thing is only play in poker tournaments where they race off the odd chips rather than coloring them up. If you win a poker tournament take a second to count all the chips if your casino doesn't already do that, it should be very close to the "chips in play." Those are the biggest things as the common ways for tournament staff to steal money involve pocketing rebuys or changing the number of people in the tournament (sure you know there were 8 tables, but do you know if there were 78 or 83 players, on even a $100 event this is a nice bonus to someone if he can pocket a couple of buy ins).

[FortFun]

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I have mentioned this before in B&M< but it seems relevant to this thread. I work in poker and some people that working poker treat tournament like a license to steal. The first thing is only play in poker tournaments where they race off the odd chips rather than coloring them up. If you win a poker tournament take a second to count all the chips if your casino doesn't already do that, it should be very close to the "chips in play." Those are the biggest things as the common ways for tournament staff to steal money involve pocketing rebuys or changing the number of people in the tournament (sure you know there were 8 tables, but do you know if there were 78 or 83 players, on even a $100 event this is a nice bonus to someone if he can pocket a couple of buy ins).

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Its funny you say this since I was just thinking that my local card room in Colorado's tourney payoffs are a little off. I will make sure to ask for a exact count of players on my next visit.

[SossMan]

How sad is it that I saw the title of this thread and immediately thought of the Mortgage industry. I happen to own a real estate company, so of course I know all this stuff, but it's amazing the number of people who spend way too much money by simply not shopping or at least pretending to shop.

I usually educate my clients and actually show them my wholesale rate sheets to show them how it all works and they are typically okay with me making 1% (front end or back end).

Of course, truth be told, I would pretty much do any loan for $2k or so.

[billygrippo]

i work at papa johns

if you call us and order some of our crappy pizza for way too much money you are getting ripped off.

i need a real job

[C-Dog]

Well that's good to know Soss, perhaps I will call you when I buy me a house.

C-Dog

[xxThe_Lebowskixx]

good thread idea.

[NajdorfDefense]

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If you're going to trade stocks or options (esp. options at the open), don't use market orders. It's basically giving the market maker or specialist or whoever an invitation to [censored] you.

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Never trade a muni bond. Buy new issues and hold. Otherwise, you are getting screwed by the desk, if not the desk and the salesguy's markup.

[wdcbooks]

Some financial tips for the non-trading public.

If you think you need to pay a financial advisor, ask yourself what you need advice on. If the answer is 'which funds to buy' then you will do better by going to the website of a low cost provider like Vanguard, Fidelity or TIAA-CREF and using their tools to come up with a recommended asset allocation.

If you have a fairly large amount of money you may qualify for free financial planning. Vanguard and Fidelity for example do excellent work for their larger clients and the advice is generally high quality and far more objective than the work done by a commissioned financial advisor.

If you need complex advice, examples would include estate planning issues, complex tax issues, net unrealized appreciation transactions and the like, then you are best off with a fee-only financial planner. These people charge by the hour, much like an attorney, and are able to make objective recommendations because their compensation is not tied to the products they recommend.

If you use a financial advisor you are absolutely entitled to a full disclosure of all fees and charges assessed and to know how your advisor is being paid. Read the documents they give you as well as the prospectus. If anything you read doesn't jibe with what you were told then you are most likely being screwed. They work for you and you should feel free to ask any questions without feeling awkward about it.

Do not use your brother, your sister's friend or your buddy from colllege to handle your money. If they do a lousy job, or are unresponsive, you have made it very difficult to sever the relationship. It's your money and any barrier to doing the right thing for you and your family shouldn't be tolerated. I have seen many people who won't get out of a bad situation because they are afraid to hurt someones feelings.

Finally, investing successfully is really fairly simple. For almost any situation, a well designed portfolio of index, or lost cost active, mutual funds is going to get you the best long term results. Picking the "best" fund or stock is a very difficult endeavor and is usually bound to fail. You control risk by diversifying and allocating your money correctly, not by being prescient about the direction of the market.

[highlife]

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He was probably saying not to pay KBB "retail", which is usually way too high.

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For new cars, is it worth anything to ask to see the invoice price? What should I do with this number?

[RR]

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He was probably saying not to pay KBB "retail", which is usually way too high.

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For new cars, is it worth anything to ask to see the invoice price? What should I do with this number?

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For new cars you can buy the cost info from Consumer Reports (I think it was $12 last time, but I might be wrong). When I bought my car I took this number and added $400 profit for the delaer and offered that and left with my new car.