I put on my best telephone shouting voice and demanded "forms" be couriered. To my surprise they were sent. But they turned out to be a scrappy six page letter, again from Chuck Berry, full of same nonsense but seeking no further information than what was on original form they received from Super Fund A. It didn't contain any instructions on returning "form."

So I put on my telephone shouting voice again and said I was coming into office to hand deliver "form" and to collect cheque. I managed to convince one of Chuck Berry's offsiders to expect me at 3pm.

So when arrived at Super Fund B's office I asked for Chuck Berry's offsider, cooled my heels in reception and waited a few minutes. He didn't appear, but office boy brought down another letter from Chuck Berry, and cheque. They were not in slightest interested in "forms" thus confirming what I already knew - they were a meaningless prop, used to cover up inefficiencies.

I walked to other end of city and deposited cheque in Super Fund A. What a relief! Although I had lost a couple of hundred dollars due to stock market changes over two-week saga I had last disentangled myself from Chuck Berry and his crew.

I learnt a few lessons from my experience.

Higher fees doesn't give better service. Super Fund A costs me less than $3 per week in fees, Super Fund B, with a lower balance used to cost me about $10 per week.

Featherbedding and overstaffing leads to lower levels of service. The overblown bureaucracy at Super Fund B invents procedures and "forms" in an effort to convince management that it is performing a service. Inevitably a bureaucracy in this mode becomes a haven for people with little idea of service, but with a strong determination to stick to rules and to cover up for colleagues and organisational malfunctions. The public and company suffers as declining morale and shoddy practices replace cheerful efficiency.

A bit of determination goes a long way. If I had waited for slow grinding of wheels in Super Fund B I may have eventually got my money, after I had paid them a couple more weeks of "management fees" I feel I have had a moral victory in that I have partially thwarted schemes of Super Fund B to deprive me of my rights.

I hope this little tale helps someone who is being done over by people who are being paid to help us.

We consider school loans bad debt. If you finish school, get a good high paying job and then attack loan like mad, a school loan may work out. The problem is that there are too many things that can go wrong. At best, even if you do graduate and get a good job there are always a lot of other expenses at this time in ones life. You are really behind financially when you start your working life in debt.

Auto loans are bad loans that have become common practice to us. We pay interest on a vehicle that will only be worth one half of its original purchase price in five years. Lately it has also been common for us to borrow more than a vehicle is worth. We can trade a car in that we still owe on, and roll that owed amount over into another vehicle. This gives us a loan amount that is higher than value of car that we drive away. We have lost our capacity to say NO.

Co-signing is a bad debt that usually and unfortunately involves family. If someone cannot qualify for a loan at a regular lending institution, they should not get a loan. The fact that they can't qualify for a loan elsewhere should tell you that they are a huge risk. Use this opportunity to teach them how they can get what they want by working harder for it and delaying purchase.

If you want to get off of debt treadmill, you must run as far away from debt as you can. You cannot use debt to get out of debt. Even if you do, you have not changed your habits; you must change your lifestyle.