Posted by
Garden Grove Gazette on Wednesday, July 12, 2006 12:35:30 PM
Ben Stein, the famous econ teacher in Ferris Bueller, among his many roles, writes a finance viewpoint column every two weeks for Yahoo! Finance. He always seems to make sense, and is extremely easy to read as well. He plays a buffoon in the movies, but
here, he makes a great yet sad point:
First, we can't assume that the federal government will act sensibly. They haven't done so for a long time, and that's a clue to how they'll behave in the future. This bounces the issue back squarely to us. We have to take up the slack by saving more and more. Economists call this the theory of rational expectations.
Whatever we thought the government would do for us probably will not happen. We're on our own. So go to your financial advisor and make a serious plan to save until it hurts. If it doesn't hurt, you're not saving enough.
I know the federal deficit is lowering, and we're making great strides in getting our house cleaner, but I agree: the onus is on us.
As a 28-year-old professional with two children and a wonderful, loving wife, the heat is on for the future. CN