In article , Mike Coslo
writes:

JAMES HAMPTON wrote:

Just so some might appreciate the problem with "privatization", New York
State started a deal where you could invest money to be used for your kids'
education. Not a savings account; this had to be "invested". They had a
nice thing going.

Every state has those plans. They're called "529" plans, I think. And you don't
have to invest in your own state's plan.

That was a short sighted idea. With Education at constant double digit
inflation, there were no investment plans that could ever keep up, once
the investment people skimmed off their money. This means someone loses
at some point. Guess who?

The big question is: why is the cost of higher education climbing so fast? Does
it really cost so much more to run a college today than, say, 25 years ago?

A lot of ordinary folks jumped right on the bandwagon. After the company I
worked for stopped their "fund d" and everything became chance.

Never heard of a "fund d". 529s and educational IRAs I know about, Roths and
conventional IRAs, 401(k).

Wow! The stock market was really rising! (yep, like a pyramid, you get a
lot of folks to invest, stocks go up). Over time, of course, stock tends
to
go up, but a lot of new accounts ... a few of the guys at work were
bragging
how many grand they made "last month".

I knew a few millionaires. for a few months.

One guy (from Vietnam) took a hard
look and bailed out and moved it all into low producing accounts. Needless
to say, the tech stocks tanked, just about everyone investing in that New
York State thing lost a good portion of what they invested .... and if you
check, you find some folks (especially the folks that knew what was
happening) bailed.

Oh yeah, there is that. I confess I kept all my money in more
conservative investments for the whole duration. In retrospect, it was
quite wise.

Same here. All about risk/return.

Some did very well (perhaps illegally), some did well
just not to loose anything (like the guy at work I mentioned earlier). And
a lot more ordinary folk lost.

Coslo's rule of investment: Find out what investment is hot, and avoid
it like the plague. Mr. investment counselor is NOT your friend.

Depends upon how the invest ment counselor gets paid. If his payment is
dependent on your rate of return over a considerable term, then s/he's on your
side. If it's dependent on the sale of particular securities, or short-term
gains....

Why has gambling become the method of choice for making money?
Everyone around here wants more gambling. Creates jobs.

That one is easy. Gambling simply serves as a voluntary tax. The reason
that politicians love it is that it is accepted by the users. And the
gild on the lily is that the wealthy don't use lotteries anywhere near
the level that the poor do.

So you have a voluntary tax on the poor.

Exactly! And it's self-perpetuating because every so often somebody hits it
big.

This is where the proliferation of ignorance helps those in power. A clear
understanding of how probability works shows that in most games of chance (like
the lottos), you are more likely to be personally struck by lightning than to
win big. But most folks don't understand just how awful the chances against
them really are.

As to the stock market, it is like walking into a poker game. If you can't
spot the fish, guess what?

The stock market is a revenue generating mechanism. The thing is who is
it generating revenue for. You need an insider to make money.

That's why I'm into funds rather than individual stocks.

73 de Jim, N2EY