Based on the interview Olen seems to feel there is very little hope for Americans to accumulate enough for their retirement. She also seems to believe that most market participants will not come anywhere close to getting the returns they need. Financial literacy won't solve the problem she believes for a couple of different reasons including that the people doing most of the teaching are industry professionals with seriously conflicted interests. Although she never used the word charlatan that seemed to be what she was saying about people like Suze Orman and Dave Ramsey of whom she said that they did not get rich and then start helping people but instead have gotten rich by helping people but of course it is not real help.
There is of course truth to what Olen is saying and while it is probably correct that a large percentage of Americans will never understand the full extent of the conflicts and other warts on the industry I don't think anything new is being unveiled with this discussion.
When I hear these kinds of threads I circle back to the idea of simply staying on your own mat (this is a yoga term which means don't be concerned with how someone else is doing the poses, just focus on your own practice). Financial literacy may not work for most people (although I am not as pessimistic as Olen) but it can work for you. Maybe most people can't save enough but that doesn't have to mean you can't. Maybe most people can't overcome their own behavioral quirks but that does not mean you can't learn to overcome yours. You obviously see where I am going here.
When I go down this road there will often be comments left about the "penalty" for being responsible that many people think is coming like social security means testing as one example. I do think means testing is coming but I choose to view more positively (that may not be the right word). While I hope the following is an extreme example I think it makes the point; I don't ever want to have wait in line all day for a free bag of groceries stressing out over the possibility that they might run out of free grocery bags before my turn comes up. That is just a made up example but the concept influences my ideas on savings, spending and debt.
Human nature being what it is there will be people who know better who use Olen's argument (she's not the only one making it) as an excuse for not taking care of their own business; there will be people playing the victim in addition to actual victims.
One last point on this which is a repeat from the other day is that no one will care more about your savings or retirement or financial plan more than you.
The picture is not a metaphor, just a neat shot of a buggy stuck in the mud from the Dakar Rally which ended over the weekend.
Source: http://randomroger.blogspot.com/2013/01/new-book-craps-all-over-personal.html
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