Chapter 7, titled Financial markets, has one major idea that is identified throughout the chapter. If things are to good to be true, it probably is. Right at the beginning the author talks about how some college girls tried a diet of ice cream and grapefruit in hopes of losing weight. While that does sound to good to be true, it was. While the consequences are not immediate or extremely detrimental to ones life (presuming they realize that the diet won't work.)
A less radical example would be insurance, while it is not required to have, it is a safety net for when things go wrong and should be utilized. In the novel, the author gives an example of trees falling on people's houses. The novel also says how one might lose his or her money to natural disaster, illness, disability, fraud, or theft, and it is human nature to attempt to minimize such things. Our way of minimizing such things is insurance, while this can cost a lot of money, in the long term, say a tree falls on your house, you will be prepared. While this is a frightening idea, it could very well happen.
Lastly the author gives an example of real estate where a 500,000 dollar house is for sale for only 250,000 dollars. Immediately your impulse should be to contact your agent and find out what's wrong with it, if nothing is, it's to good to be true. Why would someone sell a house for so little? More importantly, why would the agent tell you the house is fine, the real estate agent could easily buy the house and flip it for an easy 250,000 thousand dollars. The moral of the story is, if it sounds to good to be true, it most likely always is.
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