| You'll notice that Senators Sanders and Warren never talk about wealth creation. (That would be crass, I suppose.) Nor will you ever hear them utter two phrases that are near and dear to the hearts of successful entrepreneurs, businesspeople and investors everywhere: individual initiative and personal responsibility. Those are the two qualities you need if you want to reach your financial goals. Sanders and Warren mistakenly believe that the only way to raise someone up is by taking someone else down. And if you intend to take the economically successful down a peg, the best way to start is to demonize them. So instead of pointing out that businesspeople and investors create most of the jobs, take most of the financial risks and pay the overwhelming majority of taxes - according to the IRS, the top 1% of income earners pay more in annual taxes than the bottom 90% - they bang on about the evils of capitalism, the "rigged economy" and how the rich don't pay their fair share. There's a danger in accepting this dystopian view, in seeing yourself as a hapless victim in an unjust society. After all, if capitalism is broken, you don't stand a chance. Why bother to compete? If the system is rigged, you can't succeed. So why try? Theirs is the worst kind of demagoguery, not only because it's dispiriting and counterproductive but - more to the point - because it's blatantly false. We are fortunate to live at a time in this country when every able-bodied man and woman can strive to better their circumstances by working, saving and investing. Interest rates are at rock bottom. Inflation is low. Energy is cheap. The pandemic is receding. Corporate profits are up. And so is the stock market. If capitalism is broken, do me a favor. Don't fix it. Some folks, of course, are ready to invest, but they aren't sure how or where. Or the stock market scares them. In my experience, this is generally because they don't understand the risk of not investing in stocks. Like a slow leak in a pool, inflation is steadily eroding your purchasing power. (It takes over $3 today to buy what $1 bought in 1980.) With cash and bond yields near historic lows, you need a portfolio that works as hard as you do to generate the kind of returns that will allow you to meet your most important financial goal. What, specifically, should you invest in? That was a subject Bill O'Reilly and I recently sat down and discussed. (You can watch that conversation here.) I'll talk more about those opportunities in my next column. Good investing, Alex | 
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