Pound foolish : exposing the dark side of the personal finance industry / Helaine Olen.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

What hath Sylvia wrought? -- The Tao of Suze -- The latte is a lie -- Slip slidin' away -- The road to Pas Tina -- I've got the horse right here -- An empire of her own -- Who wants to be a real estate millionaire? -- Elmo is b(r)ought to you by the letter P -- We need to talk about our money.

"Describes how a financial column assignment revealed to the author the unethical machinations of the multi-billion-dollar personal finance industry and its false promises of quick and easy wealth, explaining how everyday investors are routinely misled by self-proclaimed money experts who exploit clients to increase their own wealth."

If you've ever bought a personal finance book, watched a TV show about stock picking, listened to a radio show about getting out of debt, or attended a seminar to help you plan for your retirement, you've probably heard some version of these quotes: "What's keeping you from being rich? In most cases, it is simply a lack of belief."--Suze Orman, The Courage to Be Rich; "Are you latte-ing away your financial future":--David Bach, Smart Women Finish Rich; "I know you're capable of picking winning stocks and holding on to them."--Jim Cramer, Mad Money. They're common refrains among personal finance gurus. There's just one problem: those and many similar statements are false. For the past few decades, Americans have spent billions of dollars on personal finance products.