Ben Stein How Not to Ruin Your Life

Richard - Monday, June 15, 2009, 5:45PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 5/5

Ben, i am a boomer and I agree with what you said on everything, especially about GM vehicles. I have a 2004 Chevy Z truck and my wife has a 2oo5 Caddy. Both ar low milage[30000] and like new. We plan to buy a new Caddy soon. I have driven nothing but GM except in 1990, a Ford 1500. A big mistake. I hate GM can't run a business but they build a good vehicle. Thank you for your article. Richard

bushwacked - Monday, June 15, 2009, 10:00AM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 2/5

PollyAnna Ben once again looking through the rose colored glasses. True Benny, the old Corvettes were beautiful (the mid sixties were the best) though I would disagree that the 1958 was anything but. The chrome spears on the rear deck and the washboard hood were abominations that Chevy quickly deleted the following year and for good reason. I guess that must say something about Ben Steins' taste :). Ben seems to have forgot about some of GM's less than stellar autos. Did you happen to be the proud owner of a 1975 Vega Ben? I remember pumping gas in 1975 when a Vega owner would pull in to buy a dollar of gas and a quart of oil! You could always tell when a Vega was coming from the cloud of blue smoke eminating from its tailpipe. And how about the Cadillac Cimmaron Ben? Remember that classic? This was basically a Chevy Cavallier re-badged as a Caddy with some fancier interior appointments. It was still a Chevy Cavallier. Obviously there were plenty of dumb-bells out there who were GM loyalists (surely Ben Stein devotees) that bought this junk which leads me to my point. GM got exactly what they deserved. When you stop making cars that must compete in a world economy and begin resting on your laurels is when you get your head handed to you. GM had been making junk since the first gas crunch in the mid seventies and up into the nineties. It's about time they started to notice that Americans were not buying their cars. I think they finally figured out that they can't avoid building quality vehicles instead of relying on stupid American loyalty to keep them afloat. Hopefully it's not too late. Owe yeah, I forgot about another GM fiasco, the Beretta. My roommate back in the late 80s bought one and continually had problems with it. He finally gave up when he was driving down the road and found he was blowing flames out the tailpipe! He ended up trading it in on a 1990 Honda Accord and never looked back. It's going to take a long time unfortunately for GM and Ford to reclaim their quality status from the likes of Toyota and Ford. Another comment, industrial workers what industrial workers Ben? Pretty soon, we won't have anything of value that we will be producing other than battle cruisers and jet fighters. And that is the whole problem we are facing. We are turning out lawyers who other than suing and creating laws are doing nothing of value. I hope your best friend the newly minted lawyer doesn't find any work here as there is an overabundance of lawyers in this country. Have him move to Iraq or Afghanistan, they need'em worse over there! Until we start producing tangible products again here we are going to be on the decline.

Yahoo! Finance User - Saturday, June 13, 2009, 1:33PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 2/5

Ben, it feels different because it is different. The house of cards has collapsed because the foundation upon which i was built was unsustainable. The suckers who listened to the sales people disguised as bankers and investment advisors have lost their shirts and now risk losing their pants as well. There is no substitute for a real financial education - the kind that you won't get from those who are trying to sell you something. Learn to build liquidity while saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in mortgage interest by simply opening a Mortgage Savings Account. The vehicles have been used effectively for decades in Europe and Australia, yet Americans are still clueless. Why would anyone invest in the market without basic protections against loss? Yet the fact that Americans have lost trillions in the last year is an indictment on their ignorance. Get a real financial education. Google "Mortgage Savings Account" or research www.maxhouse.com

Bart - Saturday, June 13, 2009, 7:04AM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 3/5

Solving the crisis is easy if you understand the root cause of the problem. If someone brought a 1/10 oz gold coin to the bank in the year 1 AD, and the money remained there until the year 2000 AD, collecting a yearly interest of 4%, the amount of gold in the account would have been 3.6 * 10^31 kilograms of gold. This is 1.9 * 10^27 cubic metres of gold weighing 317 times the complete mass of the Earth. This example shows that interest on money is unsustainable and leads to crisis. Credit and interest on money make it possible for an economy to grow above potential during a boom phase. In the boom phase investors add leverage using credit which intensifies the boom, creating shortages of materials and labour resulting in rising prices. Interest on money entices banks to lend money to leveraged investors during the boom phase. Credit makes it possible to create money out of thin air, which enables the banks to fuel the boom. When the cycle turns into bust investors start to deleverage which intensifies the bust, creating surplusses of materials and labour resulting in falling prices. What most economists do not see, is that credit and interest on money are the root causes of economic booms and busts. It is possible to end the depression in a few months, to have constant economic growth at maximum potential without crisis, unemployment and government intervention. You can read more about it here: http://www.naturalmoney.org/introduction.html

Tatarska - Friday, June 12, 2009, 4:27PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 4/5

Good column, Ben. My opinion is that it is not different now. Capitalism is not neat or painless. It is like life itself-- "stuff" happens. We humans are pretty resilient creatures. When we take a fall we eventually we get up off the ground and keep moving forward. We are dominated by a desire to show our neighbors (and ourselves) that we are worthy of respect and admiration, and that is the driving force that motivates us to work hard and accumulate wealth, or at least its trappings. Apparently we are driven by our genes to show off our success since it maximizes our "reproductive opportunities". No wonder your 62 'Vett worked as a "love machine". As long as this essential part of our human make-up does not change, the basic force behind economic growth will not disappear. The problem, of course, is that this force only operates over long time periods-- centuries in fact. Sadly, our little lives tend to be quite short by comparison. It is quite possible over a single lifespan to do all the right things in terms of personal finance, and yet be overcome by bad timing. It is unjust, but chance still plays a decisive role in human affairs. Keep up the good work, Ben. You keep urging us to do the things that will shift the odds in our favor as musch as possible. The rest is out of our control.

Rob M - Friday, June 12, 2009, 8:23AM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 3/5

Great column until he got to GM. True, it's it's time, they produced some of the most durable, and attractive cars ever. Not so much in recent years. I nthe past 10 years, I've owned two GM cars, both lemons. One, a Chevy litteraly had parts falling out the bottom of it after about 1.5 years. Talk about customer service, before the bailouts, I walked into a dealership to see a new Malibu that I'd heard so much about. The sales guy, after me wandering around for 20 minutes, finally puts me in a chair, tells me he's going to see what brochures he has, and left me there. After a while I go looking for him to find him in the bosses office eating pizza. Never again. They deserve to go belly up. I'm just sorry they had to take som many bilions of our money down with them.

Drew - Wednesday, June 10, 2009, 9:34AM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 1/5

Suck ballz Ben! You owe millions of dollars to thousands of people for the grossly negligent advise you have given over the years.

Dan - Tuesday, June 9, 2009, 8:00AM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 1/5

Ben lost all credibility after that farce of a movie "Expelled". With his horrible advice, he should be "expelled" from yahoo.

Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, June 8, 2009, 4:00PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 1/5

I don't know what you are talking about. You are getting very old and senile. GM makes great cars and you get great service? You shouldn't even know about service except to change the oil and get new tires every 50K. Regarding the economy, you were so happy on your high horse never acknowledging others pain until it finally hit home. The only thing you may be learning is compassion - maybe all that hurt the middle class and poor have been feeling since your Ronnie Reagan started killing off the middle class and throwing his welfare moms into the street. Guess they'll have to make room for all your friends now. Wouldn't that be grand!

Bean Counter - Monday, June 8, 2009, 1:33PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 5/5

I too love my Cadillac. We own a 2007 Cadillac DTS. It's a wonderful car! Our 2007 Honda can't match the ride or the great service that we get from our Cadillac dealer in Austin, TX. I'll keep buying Cadillacs as long as they remain as good as my current car and as long as our Cadillac dealer continues to provide great service. I'm 63 years old, and well remember the economic challenges that Ben mentions. And we suffered losses in each downturn. Neverthess, investing in diversified asset classes, low-cost index funds, dollar-cost-averaging, and not timing the market has served us well.

Mark - Monday, June 8, 2009, 1:10PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 5/5

Great article. I generally don't agree with Ben on much, but this article shows his wisdom much more than his political biases. I love the part about small is beautiful and how important simplicity is important. GM cars are and can be competitive. American car makers have only in the past few years begun to make a lot of cars that people today want and have improved quality of lower priced models exponentially. I hope they can pull it out. A world without a Cadillac would trule be a sad place to live.

ALEJANDRO - Monday, June 8, 2009, 7:37AM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 1/5

The GM you refer to is long gone and will never come back. Today GM should stand for Garbage Motors. The great profitability of this corrupt company proves my point. Mr. Stein, it is time to come down to earth from your dreams. Stop glorifying GM and the junk they make.

Francis - Sunday, June 7, 2009, 10:39PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 4/5

I do agree with Ben and rethink over ,over and over again what I am doing with My money .Keep doing a good work to educate the Readeers Ben .Thank you

r13 - Sunday, June 7, 2009, 10:13PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 1/5

Mr. Stein seems to have a poor memory. We are having a worse than average recession, but it is not the worst in my memory, and I am about the same age as Mr. Stein. The worst in my memory was the one in the late '70's and early '80's. During the Reagan administration, the unemployment rate reached 10.4%. It may reach that again; we shall see. Mr. Stein is also poorly informed for GM to "last another hundred years." GM already filed bankruptcy, and no one familiar with the matter expects that the stock won't be cancelled. That means, Mr. Stein, that the organization has no value to it's present owners. That's why the stock is not being traded. That is the end of GM as investors understand the concept. A new organization may take on some of the identity markers of GM, the brands and logos and so on, but it will be a different organization, not the old GM. Mr. Stein's nostalgic fondness for the GM of his youth and current age is also inappropriate in a writer who purports to advise investors. Objective judgment is needed in investment matters.

Ken - Sunday, June 7, 2009, 3:56PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 2/5

No not just you, we are all betting for GM/AIG/C to win LOL.

Yahoo! Finance User - Sunday, June 7, 2009, 12:25PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 1/5

So your Caddy that starts at 58k does a great job of making you feel good, Ben? Statements like that show how out of touch you are with the average person, and why GM is in such financial trouble! Normal people not only can't afford luxury cars; borrowing to try and live that lifestyle was a major factor in driving this country into financial ruin. I would say that I can't believe a pompous out of touch fool like.you could get paid to write this tripe, but in today's media it seems like the more incompetent you are the more money you make!

DG - Sunday, June 7, 2009, 12:06PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 4/5

nice job Ben.

D - Sunday, June 7, 2009, 10:39AM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 3/5

The reason GM is in trouble is wage, pension, pension and paying out big dividends over the years forced them to use inferior materials to make their autos. Who wants to buy a car that is junk? Or any other product for that matter.

Yahoo! Finance User - Saturday, June 6, 2009, 9:40AM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 4/5

Live under your means is the true path to happiness. I was lucky (or smart) going into this recession with zero debt. If I lose my job, I will not miss it. BTW, I only buy American V-8 model cars, trucks, SUV's and love them.

Yahoo! Finance User - Friday, June 5, 2009, 10:21PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 3/5

mortmorty, aside from restating the republican mantra of tax cuts equate to a booming economy you almost seem to have come to the same conclusion as those you ridicule. Your point about Volker's monetary policy is well placed. Perhaps that is the difference this time

DANIEL - Friday, June 5, 2009, 5:25PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 4/5

This was not an article of answers, but one of reflecting on real-world observations. Ben, I appreciate your empathy for those people who thought they were doing everything right, but now find themselves suffering. How degrading, embarassing, to think we did everything right by buying a house in the right part of town, by saving diligently in our well-diversified portfolios, hoping for an early retirement, and now...here we sit hacking away at the same jobs we were hoping to quit - if we still have them, that is. It is a time of hardship, and true, the old tried and true wisdom of "save wisely, spend prudently" holds up well in these times. However, they are indeed "times", and times change. Even the depression eventually ended, followed by boom market after boom market. So just shore up the sand bags for the next storm, and until then, remember to enjoy this life that is oh-too-short. As a corollary, I'd recommend people read Charles Wheelan's article on the human capital bubble. I can see another one of those coming in 30-40 years, when we will have too many doctors and nurses after so many of the baby boomers...no longer require health care...

DanielK - Friday, June 5, 2009, 5:00PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 2/5

So sorry Ben. Your smug world view is crashing, like that of so many other boomers. I remember your NY Times article just a few years ago about your panic attack in the swimming pool and advice about having a big dog. Everything works out well in the end you seem to say. Well, just because you enjoyed silver spoon, nepotistic, demographic prosperity for 40 years doesn't mean it will always be that way (nor has it been that way for many less fortunate boomers). For us Gen X'ers have, we've paid our dues and accept that the ponzi scheme is over. Welcome to global labor arbitrage. Just because Darwinism (which you don't believe in) is a harsh schoolmaster, doesn't mean we can all skip school. Okay, I'll get off my soapbox, but Stein's prosperity attitude always rubbed me the wrong way , knowing it was all debt financed for boomers to enjoy and the next generation to pay for.

Morty - Friday, June 5, 2009, 4:09PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 5/5

Gosh, Ben, looks like you should be the one reading. There are 187 people a whole lot smarter than the rest of us 300 mill americans! Ben Stein wasn't the only one who got this wrong, you pathetic hacks. W, Clinton, the dummycraps, the republicants, the banks, freddie and fannie, barney spank, chris/crook dodd, the list goes on and on. I've read and listened to dire warnings about an impending new age depression since Nixon was president. And like a stopped clock, there were a few lucky stiffs who wrote books and collected fees on the doomsayers circut who were at the right place at the right time last year. When I read the musings of self-educated morons who claim that the Reagan deficits pulled us out of the stagflation 70's, my certainty that my fellow americans haven't the slightest clue about how a free market works is once again certified. This current economic disaster was brought to you by the federal government and it's thousands of carcinogenic tenacles and sponsored by an american taxpayer too stupid to understand. Thank you, america, your basic understanding of economic function by students, entrepreneurs, teachers, politicians, beauticians, you name it, shines like a beacon of stupidity. Behold! I offer as exhibit A, the refuse of the "educated" american! From bloggette187 back to bloggette one! Ben Stein has forgotton more about economic theory than the combined brain trust represented here in this waste of cyberspace. Yes, that includes me. How many of you erudite hacks have even read one of BSteins books? I have been following B Stein long enough to know that he had warned of the consequences of unabated deficits. Like most other economists, I'm sure he was initially in awe and then himself convinced, that the "new" economy could withstand the unrelenting assualt by the federal government. Paul Volker was the one who drug us out of the malaise of the 70's, not through deficit spending but by choking inflation. It's obvious the gen x and y'ers haven't a clue about the tough years directly after Reagan took office, how it wasn't until his second term that the economy started growing, despite the deficits that the dummycraps, as well as Reagan, allowed to grow. It was Volker's strict monetary policy and the Reagan tax cuts that set up the boom of the 90's. It was federal governments intervention into the savings and loan industry that caused the debacle of the late 80's, not, as most lemmings will regale, deregulation. It was the federal government that caused the near global melt down of the late 90's, not the Clinton guru's who "saved" us, as Time magazine would like you to believe. The village idiot, a smarter individual then either GW Bush or BHussein Obama, should have been able to foretell the consequences of combining mortgage debt from people who could not afford their mortgages into securities and sold to Ivy league educated MBA's. DUH! Best and brightest, my tushee!! Tell me, all you arm chair soothsayers, you calirvoyant economists, how many of you got short the market in Oct of 07 and bought the bottom in Mar of 09? That's what I thought. Geniuses. Here's another prediction: this ain't over, not by a long shot. Barry O and his ivy league pals may have bought us some time, but when this thing turns, again, it will be like a slamming door in a gale force wind. Stock tip?? Buy smith and wesson.

Robert - Friday, June 5, 2009, 2:57PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 1/5

I don't know why I keep coming back to read Comrade Ben's column, since it invariably infuriates me. Why exactly, Comrade, is it the government's job to keep you feeling like a maharajah?! You and the unions - and the entire generation of Baby Boomer Grasshoppers (with limited exceptions, of course) - have colluded with the socialists to destroy the future wealth of my generation and my childrens'. Just so you never have to sacrifice your luxury cars or extended vacations. You make me sick. I say liquidate all of your sorry assets and give the proceeds to the prudent savers and producers who are this nation's only hope.

Constitutionalist - Friday, June 5, 2009, 11:34AM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 4/5

Thanks Ben! Folks, regarding inflation, though the pundits say that it cannot occur without rising wages, I beg to differ. When the dollar tanks and oil prices rise as a result, food prices and everything else that must be transported will rise in price as well. Wages will not rise as fast and we will have a W recovery that devolves into stagflation. Just MHO.

Eric J - Friday, June 5, 2009, 10:27AM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 4/5

Ben you are wising up. I have been critical of you in the past but your articles are better at recognizing the facts now. Things are different this time. You are a smart man please continue thinking. We Gen X and Gen Y people need that magic bullet. I too remember the Nixon-Ford-Carter years and I am sure it was similar for older generations in that time as well. The Carter years at least. That period was realativly short. Reagan vastly increased defict spending and that is what turned the situation around. It is different this time because we can't go back the the well again. The defict spending well is dry. The "Service Economy" as it was then called was a short term fix. All of the smart people in this country should have been able to see that. Instead they bought into it. The less smart people followed like lemmings. Magic bullets needed soon.

Yahoo! Finance User - Friday, June 5, 2009, 7:30AM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 3/5

Regarding inflation - The US Treasury and Federal Reserve are pumping out Trillions of dollars to fill the giant hole in the global economy caused by financial institutions placing bets with the AIG bookies, and the bookies can't pay up. There will be no inflation until the hole is filled and everyone gets paid off. Then the US taxpayers will be on the hook for the next Trillion years. Regarding GM - I have no problem with the product, but they never learned how to make money when the competition showed up. They didn't make money when the sold the most cars ever, they borrowed money to cover the losses, and relied on leasing to prop up sales. Now that the credit market is dried up, GM has to turn to the US government for financing. They still won't sell enough cars, won't make any money, and will be sold to the Chinese within 3 years.

Richard - Thursday, June 4, 2009, 11:44PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 5/5

Thanks Ben for all your articles. My next comment is for everyone. Please appreciate this time in the stock market for what it is! It is very exciting! So much that I spend every spare moment looking at my options. These opportunities last only so long, so snatch them up! I have already made profit. Just be careful which ones you buy! We go for the secure profits. Easy to find if you know how.

Gary B - Thursday, June 4, 2009, 11:24PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 4/5

Good to see Ben Stein finally on board. Remember, folks, when this started hitting the fan, good ole Ben Stein was saying that this would soon pass and we should be in stocks and just let the good times roll.

Yahoo! Finance User - Thursday, June 4, 2009, 8:51PM ET  Report Abuse

• Overall: 1/5

Does Ben do any research for these articles? He mentions Jim Rogers twice in this piece, warning that the "this time it's different" mantra should be avoided. Does Ben realize that Jim Rogers thinks the US is heading for hyperinflation? Rogers has also gone so far as to leave the country, moving to Singapore years ago because he felt Asia was the new land of opportunity. Also, what's this about GM lasting a hundred more years? Their cars are awful (hence their financial situation) and Ben has to harken back half a century to explain why he likes GM cars. Even if GM survives, it will be as a primarily Chinese company. Lastly, GM lasting a hundred more years? Their cars are awful (hence their financial situation) and Ben has to harken back half a century to explain why he likes GM cars. Even if GM survives, it will be as a primarily Chinese company. don't get me started about how Ben says the US can print all the money it wants because we're in a state of "deflation". Therefore, he argued to Glenn Beck recently, we can't enter inflation due to creating money out of thin air. How clueless is Ben Stein? Shoddy work as usual... go back to making movies about creationism, Ben! I don't agree with creationism at all, but I'd rather you preach to the choir about that than mislead people economically in these precarious times.