Ok, here's my two cents worth.
1. Having a degree from a renowned university is no guarantee of being smart. Look at all those bankers,brokers and developers and the damage they've done. Quite useless and stupid.
2. Vanilla type saving accounts without all the bells and whistles proved to be a better choice than all the fancy investment schemes and well to do hedge funds.
3. We need to bring back the old virtues like Shame and Guilt. These bankers and Brokers have ruined the reputation of the Stock Markets and brought great institutions crashing down. Yet apparently they seem frivolous to the damage they've done. Shame on them!
4. We should have listened to our parents and grand parents when they told us to save and don't borrow what you can't possible afford to pay back.. I was actually doing this but still, like countless others paid the price.
Also why buy a house? Think about it, it is a scam. You pay a fortune for a mortgage, taxes, interest and maintaining and repairing your property. For what? You pass away, your next of kin gets some of the money and more often than not, the tax man gets the rest. You're better off renting.
When will people realise that investing is a nicer word for gambling. The stock market is a gamblers paradise, the housing market was another gamble that alot of people got into to and lost big time. Tough.
I'm aslo beginning to depise people, like that teacher, who would rather emote her situation than actually use reason. But she can't use reason because she gambled and lost big time and she knows it.
Will lessons ever be learnt? Of course not. The south sea bubble and tuplimania anybody?