I don’t think a 12% decline in the S&P 500 counts as “melted away”. Especially after earning 15.7% PER YEAR for the previous 5 years.

If investors and traders at Bear Stearns couldn’t figure out how to be successful then how in the world does George think the ordinary worker can make the right decisions and successfully invest in a private retirement account?

I obviously can’t speak for the president. But the answer is really quite simple: Dollar cost average in to a diversified mutual fund (S&P 500 or total stock market, for example) and sit on it. You don’t need to do anything fancy.

In 1958, our last recession, prices increased by almost 3 percent. And, wholesale prices continued to rise by almost another 2 percent through 1959.

Wow. 3% inflation! Followed by 2% inflation! The average rate of inflation over the past 95 years has been 3.22% Those numbers are historically LOW.

Maybe just investing in your own home, getting a reverse mortgage at the age of 62 and collecting your Social Security isn’t such a bad idea after all. What do you think?

For most people, that’s all they can do. Workers pay a walloping 14.2% of their wages to Social Security and Medicare taxes (fairly accounting for the employer portion). Tack on 10% in federal income taxes and 5% in state taxes and it’s no wonder people can’t make ends meet. Nearly 1/3 of their compensation goes to taxes!

Furthermore, Social Security now GUARANTEES a negative rate of return for younger workers. So forget about investing in stocks. I would rather take my Social Security taxes and stick them in a FICA-insured high-yield savings account. At least then I’m GUARANTEED to come out even. Heck, I might even earn a few bucks.