It is no secret that thousands (or even millions) of Americans do not know how to manage their money. Reckless spending abounds. Credit card debt is skyrocketing. Millions of homeowners have applied for third or even fourth mortgages on their homes in order to finance their lavish lifestyles. Other Americans have applied for other outrageous loans or, worse, they have invested in stocks without doing enough research to know whether or not that stock will make or lose money. Because so many Americans have accrued so much debt, many Americans have hired financial advisors (many of whom work at large financial planning companies) to help them manage their debts. These financial planning experts often work closely with their clients to help them organize their money and to invest it wisely and properly. For example, a good financial planning advisor would never encourage his or her client to invest in unstable stocks which have historically generated poor returns upon investments; instead, a good financial planning advisor would research the stocks for his or her clients before advising them to invest their money. Beyond offering advise about stocks, a good financial planning advisor or financial planning company often helps clients to find checking and savings accounts which offer high interest rates; after completing the requisite research regarding these checking and savings accounts, a good financial planning advisor will then help his or her clients to open these checking and savings accounts. Furthermore, these financial planning advisors will monitor these accounts to help their clients maintain balances which will obviate expensive and unnecessary fees. Unfortunately, the recent market crash of 2008 convinced millions of American investors that banking institutions and financial planning companies could not be trusted and that these institutions and companies would take reckless risks with their clients’ money the second after the clients left the bank or the financial planning company’s offices. These skeptical Americans will be happy to know that financial planning companies are heavily regulated by the government, and that financial planning advisors who break or bend the rules even once risk losing their job or, worse, their license which allows them to practice in the profession. Because ,any financial advisors do not believe that risking investments justify these consequences, most financial advisors are honest and upfront with their customers.