Some Consumers Say Wall Street Failed Them

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With retirement accounts tumbling and millions of homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages, a realization is dawning on many Americans: The banks, brokerage firms, insurance companies and other players in the financial-services industry have failed them.

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Wall Street Journal huh?

I don't necessarily disagree with the article, but the truth is, there is plenty of blame to go around.

Nowadays, that same consumer may have a payment option adjustable-rate mortgage, a 401(k) retirement-savings plan, a home-equity line of credit and perhaps even a health-savings account instead of traditional employer-sponsored health insurance.

For example, no one is forcing us to buy ARMs, when fixed rate mortgages are also available. For that matter, why blame banks for lending us money when we consumers are the ones who asked for the loan to begin with?

As for 401(k) and HSA, they're not inherently a bad thing. I mean, perhaps the old-fashioned pension plans are better, but the reality is we have to work with what we've got now, and 401(k) and HSA are far from useless.

My ex-wife and I once bought a house that we could not afford. I don't blame the bank or Wall Street. They may be enablers, but we are the ones who took the loan, and I became way over-stressed trying to meet the payments. I blame no one else but myself for that.