when i first decided i wanted to start saving money, i went to the bank (lol - in hindsight, how foolish this was). they set me up on a managed account. i just had to pay a small fee and they would allocate my money for me. obviously, this is not just a little bit ridiculous. but it was self inflicted. better options were always there, i had just been duped into not seeing them. i was becoming poor, because i didn't know better. so a better question might be whether poor people are throwing away a higher proportion of their wealth, and if they are, then why don't they do something about it.