So, “The Melinda” what’s the gist of this? Sell your stocks? Sell your bonds? Stuff all your money in a mattress? Buy an old Titan launch site in Montana for the Armageddon that’s coming? (I hear some are available.) And who are the “Big Money People?” Bill Gates (we all hate him) Dick Chaney? (Ditto) The nameless rabble billionaires? I need names.

I’d agree with you that the last thing most people need is limited partnerships. You basically give your money to the “general partner” – who takes 5-20 percent as a management fee, please. And then you pray some profits show up in 5-7 years. I’ve been in 3 over my investment lifetime and lost money ever time. I’m just glad it wasn’t my life savings as some others did.

Financial life is replete with people looking for ways to chisel you from your money. Financial planners, insurance agents, hedge fund and private equity managers, stock brokers (who absolutely are NOT your friends see: “Where are the customer’s yachts?”) ALL want a cut. And not promise anything to you in return. I was recently at a lunch with a guy my age who gladly gave his 401K money to (and I’ll name names) A.G Edwards. They took 20 percent as a fee but with the promise they won’t change him for anything else (like stock trades). I was aghast. Many others have a 5 percent fee for loaded funds. My mother is in once such group.

And it is a little harder to sell mutual funds than stocks, but only slightly so. Yes, stocks can be sold with stop loss orders. But I could sell out my funds in one day all my putting order in by 10am. They sell at 3 pm and the money (like stocks) settles in 3-5 days

As to Blackstone, watch out for them and others like them. Not because they are going to suck the financial life out of the US. These guys and others have been around for 30 years (coincidentally at about the end of the “Junk Bond” phase, remember Michael Milkin?) These guys are the current “Master’s of the Universe” and they ARE looking to cash out. Several senior members are in their 70’s and 80’s and they want their pile of cash before they die. As a rule hedge funds and private equity take business private, suck the cash out, load up the balance sheet with debt and then re-introduce the “fixed” company to the world. TXU might be a recent example. This is the 2nd time they have been taken private if the deal goes through.

And I’d agree that most people don’t have enough financial education. We teach reading, writing and arithmetic in school, but nothing about debt, investing, ROI or costs. You are going to be more responsible for your retirement but you aren’t given the tools. With no tools, you are guaranteed to fail. Or place the money in a low yield CD.