If you ever watch late night (or early morning) television, you see all kinds of weird products being advertised. When a certain type of ads come on the tube, you know that you are watching a really old movie or a sitcom that has been in reruns for 20 years. Like those ads for the about animal cruelty. Animal cruelty is not funny, but if an ad for the ASPCA comes on, you know you are watching television that no one else is watching. The other kinds of ads that tip you off that you have stumbled away from the beaten path is when washed-up celebrities start to pitch fishy financial products. When a formerly big name actor comes on the screen to talk to you about reverse mortgages, you can be sure of two things: a) this is someone who is broke after making more money in a year than I will make in my lifetime and b) no one should take financial advice from this person.

All of that got me wondering: What are the worst financial products that show up in television advertisements? Here is the list of my Top 10 Smarmy Financial Products as seen on TV:

#10: Buying Gold

Gold is not the worst investment in the world. Enron employees and Madoff clients have stock that they would gladly trade for gold coins or bullion, however, gold is not a practical investment for the average person for many reasons: high fees, high price, low intrinsic value, and the list goes on. Gold is often pitched as a hedge against the coming financial Armageddon, but unless you can eat gold, plant gold, use it to heat your house or fuel your car, your gold bars will be worthless if the worst should happen.

#9: Cash for gold

My children are always telling me to “get some cash for our gold”. What they do not realize is that we do not really have any scrap gold and if I did, the last thing I would do is put it in an envelope and send it to an appraiser who works for the same company that is offering to buy the stuff in the first place. If you want to sell your jewelry, fine, but I suspect you might get a better deal from the pawn shop a couple of blocks from your house.

#8: Whole Life Insurance

I fell for the Whole Life insurance pitch a few years back – biggest waste of $300 ever. You are much better off purchasing a term policy and investing or saving the difference between the term premium and the whole life premium. Whole Life is a great deal for life insurance companies.

#7: Auction Buying

I signed up for this one too several years ago. These are the advertisements that talk about the great deals you can get by buying houses, cars and other kinds of valuables through government auctions, foreclosures, law enforcement seizures, etc. The catch is that the only way you can find out about the auctions is usually by paying a monthly fee, but even after you pay the monthly fee, it is difficult to figure out where the sales are being held and even if all of that falls into place for you, you will never outbid the professional buyers. Buy at auction type memberships are not a scam, but you pretty much have to work full-time to make it profitable. You are better off keeping your day job.

#6: Liability Lawyers

There are times when real injuries occur because of real negligence, but many times these ambulance chasers are out to manufacture a scenario where a company has to pay up. Remember these trial lawyers are not really working for you and if your case does not pan out, you will never see them again. It is true that some folks win major legitimate settlements, but frivolous lawsuits just drive up prices for the rest of us. Just remember that the coffee you are purchasing from McDonalds is hot, very hot. That is the point of coffee.

#5: Bad Credit Car Loans

If you hear, “Your tax refund is your down payment!” or “Bad credit history? No problem!”, then you are probably watching an ad for a used car dealership that specializes in transportation for people who cannot qualify for a traditional car loan. I walked into one of these places not too long ago and they were dealing in loan interest rates of 19 to 28%! Not a good idea. You have to have other transportation options – mass transit, bicycle, walk, carpool, buy a junker for $500, skateboard, scooter and more. Not too many people need a car so badly that they have to pay 25% interest.

#4: Leveraging home mortgages

This is a get rich quick scheme aimed at home owners. Typically we are shown scenes of luxury and people “making $10,000 a week by working 20 minutes a day!” There are a lot of different permutations, but most require you to liquidize some of the equity in your home in order to purchase other property and eventually build an effortless stream of income. This was a really bad idea in 2007 and nowadays, the scheme has not improved much.

#3: Debt consolidation

Debt consolidation is a sneaky one. Combining all of your little debts into one great big loan might seem like a good idea. Who doesn’t want to lower monthly payments? The problem is that you almost always pay more interest over the long run and most people simply spend the surplus money in their budget and end up in larger debt than before. Just pay off the loans that you already have.

#2: Reverse Mortgage

Do I really have to explain what a bad idea a reverse mortgage is? If you have paid off your home and you need cash, sell the home and live off the proceeds. Don not dig another hole of debt. A reverse mortgage is just about always a bad idea, no matter what Robert Wagner has to say about it. If he was so good with his money, why is he pitching shady financial products on late night television?

#1. Payday Loans

Everyone knows that a payday loan is the financial equivalent of sticking your head in a plastic bag, yet payday loan stores are still popping up everywhere, even in neighborhoods that used to seem upscale – and commercials are all over television. I once lived in a town where the aldermen forced such stores to display the average annual percentage rate that customers were paying in the front window. That sign almost dried up payday loan business overnight.

What are your top ten smarmy financial products? The only good thing about these commercials is that they allow me to watch television shows from the ’70′s and ’80′s in 2010!

Photo by D.C.Atty

“Always after a defeat and a respite, the Shadow takes another shape and grows again.” “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”    The Fellowship of the Ring, Tolkien

I believe we are in difficult days. I believe that history shows us that we might be headed for some of the worst days that the United States has ever known. This Congress has added a huge weight of debt around the neck of every man, woman and especially every child. Furthermore, all of the talk of the future seems to hold only the dim promise of new taxes, higher taxes, more debt and greater levels of government involvement in our daily lives. We are on the precipice of socialism. In the name of crisis, our government is choking the lift out of small businesses, entrepreneurs and all who desire to pursue life, liberty and happiness with as few government entanglements as possible. Even a great thinker like Thomas Sowell is in the clutches of pessimism.

These forces conspire to pull us ever closer to total government dependency and inevitable total government control. Sometimes it seems like we are caught in that frequent science fiction movie plot where the townspeople are slowly being turned to zombies or possessed by aliens until the hero is the only person left with his senses intact. He runs around looking for help, but everyone to whom he turns is already working for the evil that he seeks to defeat. He struggles and flails until some glimmer of hope motivates him to act and eventually he obtains the Hollywood ending that we all except we are not guaranteed an “ever after” ending in real life.

Yet American culture has always held that glimmer of hope – that belief that everything is going to turn out all right. We find it in our history, our literature, in our movies and in ourselves. We must be optimistic about the future, it is our only choice. To wallow in pessimism or apathy is to give up and admit defeat. Optimism spurred the War for Independence, optimism emancipated a race of people, optimism carried the day on June 6, 1944 – optimism and a commitment to duty no matter the cost.

I know that recently this little blog has focused on what is wrong with the direction of our country and while I believe there is cause for concern, I want to personally act optimistically and I hope that my readers will do the same.

Don’t make excuses for coming up short. Find a way to get it done. Fear can be a good motivator. We don’t know how far we can stretch until we are really pulled. Quitting never fed a family, never ran a business, and never got someone out of debt. Avoid allowing government to take credit for your success. Be the difference in your life and the lives around you. Don’t let government be your excuse for failure. Government can make things difficult for people, but government can never squelch the drive, innovation, creativity and independent spirit that is alive and well in this country.

Freedom is difficult to win and difficult to keep, but if there is any group of people on the earth who can accomplish both, it is us.

Back in December, I outlined how former Vice President Al Gore is outlining his own pockets by means of the global warming hysteria. Since that time hundreds and thousands of scientists have unceremoniously exited the global warming express because it is bad science and promotes even worse public policy.

I know that it is difficult for many in our popular culture to contradict those at the forefront of the global warming hypothesis. People like Leonardo DiCaprio, Sonny Bono and Sheryl Crow just seem so hip, so cool and so well-meaning that even our politicians, those who should be our leaders, succumb to the pressure. And then if that was not enough, Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Prize – the award that was also bestowed on that notable peacenik, Yassar Arafat, as well as that man who solved the the Mid-East crisis, Jimmy Carter. Al Gore has also earned an Oscar from that scholarly research institute, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I guess I’m just a little anti-establishment.

I used to believe in global warming. In fact, my 8th grade science project supposedly “demonstrated” its effects. By the time that I reached my senior year in high school, I was pretty well convinced that there was little truth to the hypothes of man-caused global warming. I took a lot of heat (no pun intended) from my classmates for questioning the theory. The theory just did not make sense – it takes a lot of faith to believe that man can change or control the weather . . . we can’t even predict it . . .

I understand that I am in the minority on this topic. In no way does that dissuade me from my position. The masses have been wrong before. I prefer to trust common sense as well as the growing number of scientists who are choosing to make public statements in opposition to the theory. Frankly, most of them seem to be more credible to speak on the topic than George Clooney. Shocking, I know.

If you are one who believes that man must act now to combat global warming, I challenge you to read the following articles. Examine the credentials of those who are writing and then see if a few cracks your faith in the truth of global warming begin to form. Our economy and your financial future depend on it.

John Coleman’s comments before the San Diego Chamber of Commerce reveal a number of historical facts such as pinpointing the moment in time where Al Gore became interested in this whole topic of global warming. Coleman is the founder of the Weather Channel and this particular speech is passionate, well-informed and credible.

Over 400 scientists dispute the claims of global warming in this U.S. Senate report.

I prefer to be on the side of this MIT professor.

Understand, I am not anti-environment. I love the outdoors and believe that we need to be good stewards of the earth that has been entrusted to our care. However, I prefer that stewardship be based on good science, not line the pockets of an elite few and keep our economy strong.

I am confident that we can successfully meet all of those challenges.

When I think of Memorial Day, my first thought turns to D-Day, the pivotal moment in World War II, when the Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy. What must it have been like to be one of those soldiers as the boat approached the shore and be greeted by the bullets and bombs of the Third Reich? Most of these men knew that there was little chance that they would survive this day, yet they continued to move forward. They did not run away, or cower in holes, or surrender – they moved toward the enemy without thought for their own safety. My train of thought then moves to the others who gave their “lives, fortune, and sacred honor” throughout our nation’s history: the soldiers in the Continental Army at Valley Forge, the incredible heartache of the Civil War, the World Wars, the struggles against Communism – all of the other conflicts in which members of our citizenry were willing to sacrifice everything for the cause.

Think about the 100′s of thousands of nameless individuals – known and loved only by their families – who were willing to throw themselves into danger so that the ideals of our nation could be advanced. As I look view military cemeteries with their endless rows of uniform stones, I realize that each one represents a life cut short. Each one is a person who forfeited his chance at prosperity, happiness, and family life so that others would have that chance.

Today, I sit here with my coffee and wireless internet and health insurance and a comfortable home and religious freedom and a multitude of other blessings that their sacrifice afforded me. I must ask the question: Am I willing to die so that others can live in freedom and prosperity?

What are you willing to sacrifice for the happiness of others? We must appreciate the sacrifice of those who disregarded all thought of their own goals, but simply “soldiered on” in the face of extreme odds – even when there seemed to be no hope of a positive outcome. Most, never knew that their mission was eventually accomplished.

This topic reminds me of three quotations that hold wisdom and are pertinent to Memorial Day. One from popular culture and one from one of the greatest speeches of all time and the final, a passage from the Source of all Truth:

Gandalf, in the Lord of the Rings trilogy:

So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All you can decide is what to do with the time that is given to you.

Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address:

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Jesus Christ, the Bible, in John 15:13:

Greater love has no one than this, that one who lays down his life for his friends.

Have a happy Memorial Day with friends and family, but do not forget those who made it possible.

Gift economy’s most often exist within the family structure, however, I believe that most gifts given in this framework are given with no thought toward quid pro quo. I believe that gifts given within the family relationship are given with the most altruistic of motives – the desire to cause another human being’s happiness.

Another place where I have seen a type of gift economy at work is within the bounds of a local church. Several of Plonkee’s commenters also mentioned this manifestation of the gift economy. I have been a member of small churches for my whole life and have seen many gifts given within this structure with no chance or expectation of the gift ever being re-payed. In some instances, I have been the recipient of such gifts. I will never be able to repay those who gave to me, but I plan to give to someone else at the first opportunity.

I think that the gift economy is one of the main ideas behind a socialist economy: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” In this respect, the socialist economy is a noble ideal, but the reality is that the gift economy does not work on a large scale. Here is why I believe a gift economy works only within small groups:

• Gifts are only gifts if given freely, not under compulsion. Socialism must always “compel” the giver.
• Givers want to see their gift appreciated. Federal redistribution robs them of such joy.
• Givers want to give to something of value and desire to observe the value with their own eyes.
• Givers give to a person or entity that will appreciate their gift – and desire to observe that appreciation.
• In a gift economy, if a giver’s gift is wasted, they will stop giving. In a socialist economy, if the gift is wasted, more is demanded from the giver.
• The gift economy only works when there is solidarity of purpose and accountability between the members of the group. In a large country, neither exists to any great extent.

The gift economy is an admirable part of the human condition, however, I believe that it will only truly exist on the small scale.