How a free meal cost an investor his retirement savings

Getty Images; iStock; Natalie Ammari/BI

George Wilson learned the hard way that there's no such thing as a free lunch — or, in his case, a free dinner that cost him a chunk of his retirement savings.

As a retiree, he regularly received postcards in the mail, offering to teach him about finance and how to make money in retirement. They usually involved a presentation at a nice restaurant, and he would go without acting on any of the investment advice.

But on one occasion, Wilson...