First, thank you all for the terrific comments on my segment with Brian. I do want to take a minute to address a few comments specifically. So ....

Julie from NYC: I would urge you to chat with a certified financial planner --preferably one who is paid either by the hour or by a percentage of assets under management and says they are fee-only (not fee based)-- to get advice on how to handle your situation. You are talking about products that advisers and brokers receive incentives to sell, so I would like to see you speak with someone who receives no incentives.

Sheldon from Brooklyn: Great analolgy! I might have to borrow that for future use! I promise to credit someone who heard me speak if I do.

Caitlin: You are talking apples and oranges. An IRA is a tax deferred retirement account. It does not have to be in stocks. I don't have the ability to predict the future (I wish I did!) but I can tell you I invest in the stock market via index funds.

Rick Evans: I don't believe there is a hard and fast rule on this one. It depends on your individual financial situation, including earnings and other investments. There are solid pros and cons to both positions. One thing to keep in mind: real estate is not a liquid investment. If you use your spare cash to pay down your mortgage and then discover in the future that you need that cash, the bank does not have to issue you a second mortgage.

Bob: I talk in my book extensively about what is clearly an upcoming retirement crisis, including one possible solve. Your talking about it is already a valuable first step. But don't not have children because you are afraid you won't otherwise be able to afford your old age. I have two boys -- they are definitely worth every can of cat food I will one day be dining on thanks to them -- just kidding.

Bob, men with children usually earn more - because they have to.

But I hear you. America will have a serious retirement crisis in 30-40 years. People in their 40's,30's and 20's have no private pensions to rely on, have under-funded 401k's and IRA'S if any, and no SS to look forward too. Thanks Govt.

Not surprisingly, Moria Money Management Monthly recommends investing in mithril.

It's true a daily Starbucks latte cannot bankrupt you.

However, compared to brewing your own Folgers at home, the latte can degrade your savings. Same is true for all those "necessities" like cable instead of an antenna, buying lunch instead of brown bagging, leasing a car vs. buying a car and keeping it until its dies, dining out instead of learning to cook, etc.

My 91 year old mother is living proof that women are far better money managers than are men. So baloney to those who preach the opposite.

Bottom line:
Corporations lobbied to end pensions and to push the average worker into the market -- with almost no financial education, which is still not mandatory in the schools -- where corporations, financiers and other predators rule. It is insane and a travesty; a sign of the times. As a result, right now, most folks about to retire have nowhere near the amount of money they'll require.
This must stop. Pensions must be brought back.

At one time, the only "investment"was having more land and more children to farm the land, because if you did reach old age, that's the only way you could survive. Then came trade and industry. People left farms to go work in trades and factories, and offices, etc. They were paid in paper money. How to obtain sufficient paper money to live into old age? One answer was to buy either equities or bonds issued by enterprises that seemed to promise growth and profits from which to extract dividends for the future.

But the fact is, to bet on any specific industry growing faster than the overall economy is a gamble. Companies are born, they grow, the reach maturity, and most eventually die, just like people. We even call corporations "people." There is simply no such thing as a sure thing. Life is risky and so are all investments.

Starve the beast! Don't invest in the market AT ALL.

When I was young and foolish I bought into the whole "Happy Meal" from Ameriprise. They even sold me on those dreaded variable annuities. (Don't tell Suze Orman - she hates them, and now I know why.)

Today I fear I am locked in. I wish I had run screaming from salepeople who call themselves advisers. Would you suggest I get my money out of Ameriprise now?

Know products, not algorithms.

How can Suze Orman do GM Truck and Acura commercials and expect people to take her seriously as a financial guru? - That's like Dr. Oz doing Burger King and Mc Donald commercials.

So how does the average person figure out what the best thing to do with their money is?

What are Ms. Helaine Olen think of Suzy Orman vs. Ric Edelman? He says keep a mortgage forever. She tends to disagree.

Listening carefully...

Is there any hope for anyone to retire in the future? It seems to me the answer is no. I have already decided to not have children and not travel and not spend money because I really don't see how I can do all those things and retire too when get old. I am a white male in my mid thirties, btw. Is my pessimism a true assessment on the way things are?

The only people I know who actually had a 'retirement' were my grandparents.

So is there anywhere better than an IRA to stash retirement money? I have a small one going (I'm still in my 20s, and have never had a job with a 401k) because that's what you're "supposed" to do, but I'm a bit skeptical of relying on the stock market after seeing so many peoples' retirements disappear back in 2008.