I went through my bank's drive-through last last week and as I was leaving the bank teller said to me, "You know, you could get a higher return on that checking account by changing to our XYZ SuperMoney Account. Right now you're only getting one and a quarter percent interest."

WHAT? One and a quarter percent? I had been assuming that the interest I was making on this account would go up automatically with general interest rates---and you know what happens when you assume. I had been too lazy to even check to see what interest rate I was getting. I saw the monthly interest, but never bothered to do the calculations.

When I opened that account, the 1+% interest was actually pretty good, but not so today---I could be getting 3 or 4 times that much.

This is what happens when you get lazy with your finances, and it's why some people have so much more than others.

I found another take on this concept recently, something I hadn't thought of before. Here it is, from a recent Reuters story:

...some folks do make money mistakes that cost them dearly. Those people, who tend to be poorer and less well educated, end up "subsidizing" the more well-to-do by overpaying for financial products and services, according to new research from Harvard University. Those overpayments allow savvier savers and investors to get the same products for less than their real economic costs might be.

The study, done by economics professor John Y. Campbell, concluded that "some financial products involve a cross-subsidy from naive to sophisticated households." He singles out mortgages and mutual funds as two types of products that can cost a lot more for people who don't know how to ask the right questions and end up paying too much in points, service fees or brokerage fees. But there are others, as well.

While this quote isn't strictly about laziness, it does show you that failing to do your due diligence not only can make you less money, but it makes you even more of a sucker by giving the financial institutions the ability to give even higher rates (or better discounts) to others. Why? Because they're making so much profit off of you!

You lose twice, first by getting less money and second by widening the gap between you and those who did their homework.

Now that hurts.