#986 SEC’s Very Little

Recently I got my tax return. But the check didn’t come alone. I took the other thick paper card out of the envelope, wondering idly what was so important that the government had wasted all that money printing and stuffing it during these tough economic budget-strapped times.
Lo and behold, it was a nice little circular from the SEC—the SEC Office of Investor Education and Advocacy to be exact. The heading told me to “Check Out These Saving and Investment Tips.”
Well how nice, I said to myself, just when I have a wad of cash all in one lump sum, the great Securities and Exchange Commission is giving some suggestions on what to do with it.
The same SEC who was blindsided by the current economic apocalypse. The same SEC who failed to enforce regulations that may have helped a little. The same SEC who ignored the mushrooming Credit Default Swap explosion. The same SEC once advised by Ponzi Master Bernie Madoff. And the same SEC who totally disregarded countless warnings by other experts about that same Bernie Madoff.
Gee, I wonder what advice they’re giving me that I should follow? Oh yeah. Don’t Trust the SEC.
All right. I’ve vented. On one side of the card, they listed a menu of extensions you can call for advice on stuff. On the other side, they had four quick tips.
The third tip, “Beware of promises of guaranteed returns,” and the fourth, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” are simple enough. Still, if you had picked two baskets like, say, stocks and real estate, you’d be twice as screwed right now.
But the first and second tips show how really out of touch they are. The first: “Pay off credit card and high interest debt.” The second: “Boost your emergency fund.”
Well let’s see, I’ve lost my job after the real estate bubble collapsed. But our company had us on “slow down” and “on call” for six months before that, which depleted our savings, so we ran up a huge credit card bill just to survive.
Once again SEC, thank you for your consistent insight.
Is it just me or does it seem like you don’t SEC much?
America, ya gotta love it.