Double Dipping

Grab a chip and stick it in the queso. Take a bite. Then, using that same chip, you scoop a second helping of queso.

Gross. You might as well spit into the dip.

The financial version of double dipping is similar. Though less physically gross, it's more morally gross. The term applies to a broker manipulating the process of selling investment vehicles in order to receive additional (unearned) commissions.

Your financial advisor puts your money into a mutual fund that includes a commission for them. Then they put the fund into an account that generates a regular maintenance fee based on the amount of assets in the account. The broker received a commission when they purchased the fund for you. Then they get an ongoing commission from the fee-generating account. Double dipping.

In some (or many) cases, this is illegal. Brokers get around the issue by, um, disclosing to their clients what they're doing. Yep. Right there in black and white ink on page 437. Plain and easy to see.