The workout facility Bally’s is going to be filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy but will stay in business. There are a few things you have to keep in mind when you are searching for a work out club though. Don’t sign a contract! If the club feels confident that they have a good product, why do they need to rope you in for three years? Look for good customer service. If you are new to the work out club game especially, you want to go somewhere where they have people walking the floor to help you if you have questions.

You have a better chance of surviving all types of cancer than ever before, and survival rates are extremely high in certain types. The reduction in people smoking has helped with that number. But exercise also helps tremendously. On that note, salespeople at gyms and health clubs are out in full force this time of year, trying to get you to join their club. But you want to consider this carefully. Signing a contract at a health club is not the same thing as working out. If you stop exercising, you still have to pay. And be especially wary of gyms that offer a discount (even 50 percent) if you join “right now!” These are sure to be ripoffs. Find a gym where you don’t have to sign a contract if possible. That way, if you slack off on working out, you’re not still paying. And, if you absolutely have to sign a contract to join the gym you want, just make sure you never give them access to your checking account.

You never want to sign a contract at a health club, especially a multi-year contract. Why? The entire business model for most gyms is to get your money ahead of time and then hope that you don’t ever work out. In one of its filings with the Feds, the health club Bally’s disclosed that the average member works out one-half of once per week. It’s just what happens after people sign these contracts. Bally’s is one of the most notorious clubs out there for its shenanigans with customers. Most recently, the company has been under the watchful eye of Wall Street for allegedly cooking its books. In addition, several consumers had expensive watches and money stolen from the club’s locked lockers. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the people wanted to cancel their memberships but Bally’s wouldn’t let them. They claimed it was an isolated incident. A legitimate health club is interested in your physical fitness and doesn’t make you sign a contract.

When the new year rolls around, you will get tons of solicitations in your mailbox from health clubs. Health clubs come in two basic flavors. The first have contracts, commissioned salespeople and don’t care a hoot about you. The other kind does not have contracts and the people there actually encourage you to work out because they’re interested in your well-being. With the first kind of club, the salespeople know that most members stop working out within six months of joining a club. And that is what they hope happens. They have to sell tons of memberships to meet their quota, and they don’t care about what happens to you once you’ve signed the contract. They then sell your contract to a finance company, which also gets part of the cut. They are not interested in providing service; they just want to move people through the process and hope that they stop coming so they don’t have to deal with you. The good gyms care that you work out and that their facility is in working order. They don’t require a contract and instead sell month to month memberships. They want to please you so that you will continue to come back and work out. There is no reason why a health club should have a contract. So, join one that cares about you and not your wallet.

Clark often reports on ripoffs going on in the consumer world. Today, he has a Top 10 list of scams, schemes and scandals, provided by the state regulators who watch over financial analysts and brokers. Drum roll please…. The No. 10 scam is variable annuities. If you don’t know what these are and you don’t have any, good. If you do, you don’t want to put any more money into these plans. They have massive commissions and are absolutely horrible for your wallet. No. 9 are scandalous mutual fund companies. No. 8 is Internet fraud. No. 7 are “high yield investment” scams. Some that Clark has received calls on involve exotic overseas investments that are a complete scam. Insurance agents who sell people bogus investments come in at No. 6. Most insurance agents are honest, but a number of them have been involved in very scandalous affairs. No. 5 are church ripoffs. Just because someone seems religious does not mean that person is on the up and up. At No. 4, phony brokers. Just because someone says something is going to be a great investment doesn’t mean it will. Promissory notes – or fake CDs – are No. 3. These are promises that someone will pay you later if you give them money. But there is no guarantee, and it’s not safe. No. 2 is any kind of scam against seniors. If you’re not involved in your parents’ finances, be nosy! And, the No. 1 scam in the U.S. involving your wallet are Ponzi schemes. These are schemes where criminals recruit people to pay back other people who have invested, and then you have to recruit someone once you’re in. Eventually, these collapse because there are no more people willing to “invest.” There a lots of people who will sell you sizzle, but that’s all it is.