John Oliver and the Last Week Tonight team, took on the financial services industry in an epic takedown pointing out the outrageous scams and fees associated with many services. Take 20 minutes out of your life to invest in your financial future, by learning  the perils and pitfalls that can screw you over, and how to avoid them. Check out the video.

Here are your take-aways:

1 ) Don’t confuse Elf School with an educational investment – it’s an expense.

2) If you can afford to save for retirement (hey big spender), invest in simple index funds, and avoid the hype and over-inflated fees of those who say they can beat the market.

3) Many financial advisers are not fiduciaries and are not required to work in your best interest. Titles like “Financial Analyst” do not require or imply a specific credential.

4) Many advisers are incentivized with perks, trips, treasures and kickbacks in return for getting you to invest in certain funds.

5) There are tons of fees associated with these services…to the tune of 63% of what you would have had due to compound interests.

6) The “experts” get beat by a cat picking funds out of a newspaper at random. LMAO!