Woody Cavenaugh

Blame it on having NPR on the Clock Radio again, blame it on the shower or the commute. Either way, I'm solving this whole retirement problem right here, right now.

Social Security was designed to take money from every paycheck you've ever received so that when you lose your job in the months before you retire you will have a small source of income so you can afford canned dog food to eat. It isn't much, but it is guaranteed.

Privatization allows you to take the money that would go for your retirement and allow you to invest in the stock market. Invest well and you will retire with plenty of money, invest poorly and you might have enough to buy dog food to eat. If the stock market crashes you get to retire to the streets.

In high school we were required to take a civics course. At my high school it was a class called Government and Economics. The first half of the class taught us about our government, its history and how it works. The second half taught us economics. I learned about investing in stocks. It works like this. You study, you watch the trends, you get maybe some trusted advice and you invest in a company, if the company wins you win, if the company loses, you lose. The more you know about the company the better your chances of success, but if you know too much because you have help on the inside you go to jail for insider trading.

In college I learned about gambling. In horse racing, and sports betting you study, you watch the trends, you get maybe some trusted advice and you bet on a horse or a team, if the horse or team wins, you win, if the horse or team loses, you lose. The more you know about the horse or the team the better your chances of success, but if you know too much because you have help on the inside you get visited by Guido who breaks your knee caps.

Occasionally in gambling you meet some very nice seeming fellow who gives you a "hot tip" on a horse or a game. He convinces you to bet on a horse or a team and when the horse or team loses you learned that he betted somewhere else and fooled you into betting poorly so his share of the winnings would be larger. You were a sucker.

In investing like in gambling the person who has the most knowledge without going over wins and everyone else either gets occasionally lucky or loses. So who are the people who know the most about investing? Isn't that the same guys who are trying to convince us to give up social security to gamble on the stock market instead? If we listen to the guys who make a bunch of money on the stock market and we risk our retirements, wouldn't that make us Suckers?

Yes, I think it would.

So my solution to the retirement debate is simple don't be a sucker.

This isn't about gambling, its about having a place to sleep, food to eat, and healthcare when you are too old to work and too young to die. These days that is a mightly long time.