Several e-mails like this:

“Mr. Ponnuru and Mr. Derbyshire—An insight regarding your recent Corner

postings… As an investment advisor, I have a line of business that

provides professional portfolio management to participants in 401k plans for

a fee. Needless to say, I have an up close and personal view of how

individuals handle portfolio management. The evidence is clear that

Americans are woefully unprepared to make appropriate investment decisions.

There are mountains of studies that show individuals do a very poor job of

managing their own investments. We shouldn’t be surprised however, since

this country does nothing at the primary school or college level to educate

our citizens about personal finance or prudent investment principals. I am

a huge Bush fan, but I have to agree with Derb that this reform will be a

very costly disaster. It would be far better (and cheaper) to lower

benefits and raise the retirement age while clearly explaining to people

that if they want a more comfortable retirement become responsible savers

NOW.”