Conspiracy of the Rich

[Chris Fleming]

"That was pretty much the underlying mission of the NYSE: get as many people, pensions, city, state, federal govts, and anyone else with real assets hooked into the scam and then suck their money out of them when the bubbles burst."

Kiyosaki's book Who Took My Money addressed this sort of thing. It isn't a conspiracy, it's just how the system is played. People are told that if you just turn over your money to "professionals" and plunk it all away in the stock market in IRAs and 401K's, you'll be able to retire rich. What they don't tell you is that people on the inside, the people pulling the market's strings and the people who are large traders know when and how to pump and dump the market. The people who follow the advice of "diversify, invest for the long term" are the biggest losers. It's like believing the foxes will be the best guards for the hen house.

[Darth Rock&Roll]

"That was pretty much the underlying mission of the NYSE: get as many people, pensions, city, state, federal govts, and anyone else with real assets hooked into the scam and then suck their money out of them when the bubbles burst."

Kiyosaki's book Who Took My Money addressed this sort of thing. It isn't a conspiracy, it's just how the system is played. People are told that if you just turn over your money to "professionals" and plunk it all away in the stock market in IRAs and 401K's, you'll be able to retire rich. What they don't tell you is that people on the inside, the people pulling the market's strings and the people who are large traders know when and how to pump and dump the market. The people who follow the advice of "diversify, invest for the long term" are the biggest losers. It's like believing the foxes will be the best guards for the hen house.

I agree, those people that invested in rsps in the late 70's are now in their late 60's and finding themselves in a situation where they have to keep working! a LOT of people.

Invest in yourself. Invest in your own interests.

[Chris Fleming]

And invest in your financial knowledge. People have no idea what things like the stock market are in the first place, and yet the laws have changed nearly requiring everyone to invest in it!

As for people finding themselves in a situation where they have to keep working, you're spot on. We're going to be seeing the end of retirement as we know it. Two books cover this well: The Retirement Myth and The Coming Generational Storm.

The idea of retirement (as we have come to know it--the idea of working for a few decades and then living work free for the long decades of the rest of your life) was mainly due to the WWII and baby boom generations, the bubbles of credit (which props up the markets) and the government entitlement programs which those generations produced. For nearly everyone in the world, retirement as seen in the 20th and early 21st centuries will be something you'll only hear about in history books in the not so distant future.

[TrainingDummy]

And invest in your financial knowledge.

I feel that this is the message to walk away with. Kiyosaki's books are fine to give to a friend or relation to get them started, a pretty narrative that weaves myth and financial advice, but it would be dangerous to end their financial education there.

It's extremely dangerous to take Kiyosaki's simple advice and apply directly to the real world. His books are general principals, not techniques.

[Buddy]

And let's stop using the word "money". Money is based on something (like gold). What we are dealing with is currency and for the Fed it might as well be toilet paper.