Something else has me annoyed. It’s not just the self-declared experts. It’s the bullshit fake experts. I’m thinking about guys like the Rich Dad Poor Dad dude. That guy has made an absolute mint with his made up story about two guys who take different investment paths. It’s the Goofus and Gallant of finance. Do what Goofus does and you will end up in the poor house. But follow Gallant’s investment strategy and you’ll end up wearing the royal rich dude robes.

And tons of people bought the book. And they bought the audiobook. And they bought follow up book. And they bought tickets to the seminar. And they bought copies of the investing video. And they bought the third book in the series. And they bought every magazine with and excerpt or article by the author of the three books. And they bought the revised ninth edition of the first book with the all new bonus chapter.

And maybe they followed the advice, and maybe it worked for them. Then again, maybe they should have spent the money on nice wedding invitations or just dumped it in a Money Market Account and left the book on the shelf.

My problem with this, and the reason I am annoyed: this dude never actually followed the Gallant investment advice. He was not a Rich Dad. He just came up with a cutesy concept for presenting the academic case for different styles of investing. Now, he is not particularly dishonest about the fictional dudes. But he made his money through book sales, and not investments, and for that reason, one has to REALLY question the validity of the advice.