Reply #114: I'm not complaining about profit.

[JDPriestly]

I'm just wondering why my investments haven't shown any profit since 2001 (except a few gold stocks) and why interest rates are so low on my savings and so high on consumer credit cards. I have saved some money for retirement. You stated that your retirement savings are growing. Mine aren't although I have them in a number of different kinds of investments. That is what is worrying me.

I am probably a lot better off than many other people, yet I cannot see how in the world my husband and I will live on our savings and social security when we retire. The Bush "plan" for "saving" Social Security is to have private investment accounts. One reason his "plan" is so unpopular is that those of us who have bought into the 401(k), private investment ploy are finding that our money is not growing -- not enough really to keep up with inflation. As I said my investments are very diverse. I read in the LA Times that banks have been making profits of maybe 19% and oil companies are only a few points behind that. If the companies I am invested in are making profits like that, why doesn't the value of my stocks in their companies rise?

If you are young you can invest in high-risk investments. At my age, however, I have been encouraged to be conservative. That may be part of the problem. But, I think the real problem is that the wealthy who control the companies I invest in are taking the profits and leaving the little guys like me with only the illusion that we share, however small our share, in the ownership of the companies they own and control. They feel no obligation to share their earnings with the little suckers who buy small amounts of their stock or who invest through mutual funds. It's more than making a profit. It's being greedy and sneaky and cheating on small investors. That's the only way I can understand it.