"In his thirty-year career, bankruptcy trustee Doug Hoyes has watched countless intelligent, well meaning people let their emotions get the better of them as they follow conventional financial wisdom and get into serious money trouble, often leading to bankruptcy. The truth is that, in many cases, everything you know about money is wrong. Times have changed, and what was good advice for your grandparents may be bad advice today. The world is fast moving and complicated, and the big banks and financial institutions wield more power than ever before. Consumers are at a disadvantage. How can they resist the billions of dollars the big banks spend convincing us to get another credit card, a second car loan, and a bigger mortgage? Doug Hoyes shatters conventional financial wisdom, explaining why a good credit score may be detrimental to your financial well-being, why a house is not an investment, why you should never pay a collection agent, why budgeting is a waste of time--and much more. In fact, most financial professionals will disagree with much of the advice in this book. But Everything You Know About Money Is Wrong is not simply a book that casts stones at financial glass houses. This is a book that challenges conventional wisdom, and replaces it with a fresh perspective and practical advice to help you prevent financial problems before they happen. Featuring simple stories that illustrate how conventional wisdom can lead you astray, and simple tweaks you can make to your approach to money management, this book shows you how to avoid the 22 most common financial mistakes and improve your financial health. With a seasoned expert to point you in the right direction-someone who's seen thousands of people in financial crisis, and helped them out of it-you can make informed decisions and live a debt-free, stress-free life."-- Provided by publisher.