I'm Ben Stein, And I've Erred Financially

Feeling Bad About Your Recent Financial Choices? You're Not Alone

(CBS)  Feeling bad about some of your recent financial choices? You have plenty of company including our Contributor Ben Stein:

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These days I spend even more time than usual beating myself up.

I'm supposed to know a lot about economics and finance. And I guess compared to some people and my dogs I do. But I still have made major money mistakes lately.

I have a lot more real estate than I should have. When prices were skyrocketing that was mighty sweet. Not so much now.

I have a lot more stock than I probably should have. A year and a half ago, that looked smart. Now we have some stock market days that turn my stomach.

How could I have made so many idiotic mistakes? How am I ever going to explain myself to my son that his inheritance disappeared? How will I ever pay for my livelihood when I'm older and grayer?

But I have some consolation! Yes, I lost money. But I didn't lose billions the way the top dogs at some banks did.

I didn't get paid a salary of tens of millions only to drive my company up to the gates of bankruptcy the way some of the sharpest minds on Wall Street did.

I didn't borrow tens of billions from my depositors and lose it in subprime mortgages.

I didn't make my stockholders pay me bonuses and options worth hundreds of millions - only to lead my stockholders to ruin.

We should all take these lessons to heart. It's a rare guy or gal (except for the ones in the oil business) who isn't feeling some pain right about now.

And many of us feel we did something stupid and a lot of dopey things about money but how much can we blame our little selves if the smartest guys in the room - living gods on Wall Street - blew tens of billions on an investment that never really made much sense?

So relax. We all make mistakes and we'll probably make them again. The smart ones among us go forward from there to tomorrow. The fools think we can get yesterday back. We can't.

[jimfinster]

Patriotism has a real price, those who refuse to pay it (check their investments, easy enough) need to be removed from life in Amierca, we cannot allow such traitors to exist alive here. When we enforce such loyatly, our nation will rise and prosper.

Posted by SharnCedar


Dude, what are you saying? You want to kill people if they invest in other countries????

[incog-nito]

sjw1253: Please provide evidence where I was "childish". As for my id, this is the internet, and my id is about as revealing as your id. In any forum I would gladly argue about the article at hand. Even when I criticized you, it was about what you said, not who you are. You, on the other hand, have resorted to personal attacks on my "intellect". I expect this sort of things on the web, including the lack of irony of those who make such attacks.

[sjw1253]

incog-nito - I believe I am "real"...

I understand this is an "opinion" thread - but I do not believe it is a "personal" bashing thread.

The opinions that I am interested in reading are those that relate to the depth and breadth of the article.

Someone such as you - who remains "incog-nito" - hides behind a cloak and have no comments that provide any intellect whatsoever. Childish comments bashing a person from your "personal" and I may say imho - "idiotic" thoughts is not what I come for on this thread.

I want to read relevant comments. If you can provide some form of valid criticsm to the writings I remain with my ears perked up.

If you can only provide evidence of you lack of ability to think without any intelligence - like a grade school kid on the playground - I would prefer that you not participate. This is grown up territory not the jungle gym.

[grigjd3]

Do you really think the people on Wall Street are the smartest people in the room? Seems like there are smart and not-so-smart people everywhere.

[talkingham]

gee, it sounds like he might be rethinking some his his republican family values.

[oneworldusa]

Due to censorship, I''d like to offer the following descriptive terms. By the way, where HAS Cheney been lately? Anyone seen/heard from him at all? Not I.

Cheney Head
Cheneying someone over
Cheney Face
Cheney Wad
Latest transgender surgery: Add-A-Cheney-To-Me

[oneworldusa]

Posted by OneWorldUSA at 03:56 AM : Aug 04, 2008

-LOL. The stars below were cause I said CEOs and oil people have been s_cre_w_ing over their customers and shareholders.

[oneworldusa]

He makes some valid points about overpaid CEOs using other people''s money irresponsibly to pad their own pockets while *** over their customers AND shareholders. And, takes a gouge at the oil people *** everyone over.

Glenn Beck thought rising gas prices were GREAT for America until someone in his family who owns a business told him how bad it was hurting. Then, he changed his tune. Evidence is in his blogs.

[brianbwb-2009]

"I didn''t get paid a salary of tens of millions only to drive my company up to the gates of bankruptcy the way some of the sharpest minds on Wall Street did."

But because you chose to ignore the reality of what those you consider to be sharp minds were doing, you, and those who followed your advice, were taken, becoming those born on the minute mark, to paraphrase P.T. Barnum.

"I didn''t borrow tens of billions from my depositors and lose it in subprime mortgages."

But you praised such schemes before they collapsed, because the analysts lies showed the banks making money.

"I didn''t make my stockholders pay me bonuses and options worth hundreds of millions - only to lead my stockholders to ruin."

But you treated those who did as unable to do wrong, because they were rich, they must have been right, or smart, and derided those who dared call them what they really were, crooks.

[zloa]

This is a raretiy, a conservitave who admits his mistake and wants to learn from it. (you seeing this G.W.)

[dashortround]

A fool and his money are soon parted, they say.

[jimfinster]

Ben,

I have been criticizing your column on yahoo for the past year. It was obvious that you were out of touch with the real economic situation for a long time. You have given much bad advise that has no doubt financially injured many people. Although I appreciate the mea culpa now, you should consider retirement.

Hey now, let''s give Ben a break. It''s not about being
a conserv. or liberal. (did we really have to make
Rush or Shawn our Grand Inquisitors?) No, he is a
grant it, conservative appearing guy, but who has lost
a pretty good bit like zillions of others, but what
is his "crime"? Lighten Up!! When you can make a
career out of that kind of "dry humor" , deadpan
delivery and the like, and make a *** good living at
it, "MORE POWER TO YUH". GOOD LUCK BEN, and keep up the good work! You are "down to earth", unlike the
"MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE" on Wall Street that we love
to worship, and who have so courageously steered our
economic Leviathan to the "rocks" to break up into
a zillion lost nest eggs and "vanished" retirements..

[incog-nito]

sjw1253: Get real. This is an opinion thread, not a fan club. People are entitled to have any opinion they want. Ben Stein is an unabashed conservative, and the "top dogs" that he excoriates in this article are the same "free-market" types that his party supports. So yes, while I''m sure he''s still loaded and will do just fine, he deserves all the financial losses due to, in his own words, "idiotic mistakes".

[Larry Fafarman]

I am glad to see that Ben Stein does not regret losing money on his movie "Expelled."

[ubrew12]

Ben Stein 1986: "Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?"
Ben Stein 2008: "Bernanke? Bernanke? Bernanke?"

Sorry if I sounded negative before. I like Ben Stein. Keep up the good work, Ben!

[waynester9]

I agree with sjw1253. It was an encouraging article. Too bad so many people feel the need to be mean-spirited. How can they possibly be happy people? I feel sorry for them.

[sjw1253]

I am shocked at all of the hate-filled remarks toward Ben Stein. I am not aware that he is a conservative either - but if he is - it has not hit me badly (and I am far left of the conservatives)...

I have enjoyed his remarks and always perk my ears up when I hear his voice. I don''t think he said he lost other peoples'' money. The way I read the column is that he is feeling the same pain many of us did but his conscience is clear because he was not one of the smartest men in the room who lost others'' money...

I think we have some people who like to find negativity in someone for whatever their personal reasons. I think he is an excellent contributor as I do enjoy his style as many of my friends also agree.

If you don''t like someone then don''t sign onto their articles and read them... I think he must feel complimented that you use what must be your valuable time to not only read his column but to make the great effort to reply to it.

I am sure he thanks you as he is well aware that people who spew hate are actually helping him with his popularity (as the number of clicks a story gets helps to boost their popularity)...

Keep up the great work PVperson, babykiller, and all of the rest of you who sign on with such "intersting" screen names.

I for one don''t want to read your negative comments - but hey - keep the comments coming... It just gives a much better rating for Mr. Stein''s stories :-)

[wogerwabbit]

The first times I saw Ben Stein it was in comedy stuff... he wasn''t real funny, but he had that look, ya know? I thought he had a promising career. Then I see him turning up as some kind of economic guru and I thought I passed through the twilight zone. ***? This goofball is an economist? And people actually listen to? So I listened to what he had to say and realized he''s just as stupid as he looks. So today he feels our pain does he? I lost 90% of my investments in the dot bomb crash and 50% of what was left in the recent dabacle listening to pinheads like him. I think they''re all in cahoots in fleecing the American public of our lifes savings every every few years. The money doesn''t disappear into thin air... it''s just transferred from yours and my bank accounts into someone else''s who is filthy rich and getting richer... kinda like Ben. There''s no less money available, it''s just that they have more and we have less. We need to get a grip on this or we''ll all totally screwed.

[ubrew12]

The glorious thing is: thanks to the falling dollar, this Republican lost twice as much money as he thought he did, for supporting the Bush catastrophe.