I’m sick of the Bernard Madoff victims, the ones who lost everything. They want to know how they can recoup some of their losses. They think taxpayers should bail them out, probably. Why not, it’s good enough for B. de A. They want to know how Bernie got away with his “Ponzi” scheme. He got away with it because of the blind greed of (his) investors. That’s how it is. If you are investing in a fund that is generating unrealistic returns, guess what, there is something that is not realistic.

THE GOLDEN RULE: If it’s too good to be true, it’s not true.

I have some money in a mutual fund that returned 200% for a few years. Guess what, I lost my butt in this recession. But I don’t have all my money on it. I have money to bet. INVESTING IS BETTING! Investing as it happens has been a good bet for 70 years. Investing in the stock market has performed better than investing in real estate during that time frame (on an average annual return basis; look it up), with much less “up front” money needed to participate. You can also easily beat the market. I do it every year as a non-financial genius.

Your investment strategy is your responsibility. Your financial future is not the responsibility of B. Madoff, AG Edwards, Fidelity, Edward Jones, Val Kilmer, or Batman.

STAY DIVERSIFIED! Don’t put all of your money in a fund with an above-average return. Perform due diligence and investigation. Bottoms warmer than normal will cool more than normal. They should be viewed as “growth”, not as “income”. I bought growth stocks that went to zero. So my “growth” was negative, but I knew there was a chance to get into the deal. I put a small amount of game money in the wrong pot. I have lost money in “Growth” mutual funds. But he still had 48 other investments to draw on.

If you were 100% invested with BM (hmm, what else does that mean?) You deserve what you have, period. Some of that money should have been staked on Pepsi Cola. Or even the lottery or slot machines. Shame on Bernie, but shame on you. People who are raped may be in the wrong place. Nicole continued to live near OJ

As a sidebar, let me recommend “American Funds” (they’ve lost their butt in the recession, too). They use a team approach. It is highly unlikely that 8 people who control a fund will make the same mistake. That would obviously be questionable and it would be the investor’s responsibility to acknowledge the deception. American has been around since the 1930s and probably will be when Bernie gets out of jail. You should consider investing in Am. Fds. in the year 2160, when he was released. An investment of $ 10,000 in one of your original funds in 1934 (with reinvested dividends, very important) is worth more than 40 million. today. Is a $ 10,000 house in 1934 worth about 50 million today?

Sidebar n. # 2: The stock market always overreacts. If it coincides with the stock market crash in percentages (as if the Dow 14000 were ever realistic), unemployment levels should be much higher than in the Great Depression. This country should be 58% of what it was 2 years ago. Pfftt! There is no correlation between the market and the reality of the economy. BUY WELL AND KEEP. Look for companies that have actually paid dividends in the face of financial disaster. Did you think there were none? So you are not doing your job.