A recent study of the investing activity of millionaires has found that 27% plan to invest more in individual stocks this year. Only half as many will invest more in real estate, and only a very small percentage say they'll decrease their stock investments.

This is seen as good news for the American economy! Our economy grows when people invest in companies and technologies, which creates new opportunities, new jobs, and new wealth. It can have a snowball effect, much the same way as decreased investment can have a negative snowballing effect on our economy.

You're thinking to yourself, "Who cares! I'm not a millionaire." We might not be millionaires, but there are certainly some lessons we can learn from them, and one is about the value of saving and investing.

Oh sure, it's much easier to save or invest when you have several hundred thousand dollars lying around waiting to be used. But if millionaires were interested in only spending all the money they're making, they may not be millionaires for long.

Inflation was recently ranked as a number-one worry to consumers in a CNN poll. I can definitely understand why, CNN showcased several price increases over the past year, from 13% for milk to 33% for gas! It's clear that the prices for items we use everyday are going up up up.

These changes to the economy should spur you to change your saving strategy if you want to ride ride out the ever inflating prices at the pump and the supermarket. Right now you would almost be better of buying milk than putting money into your savings account, 13% growth is pretty good. Pity milk doesn't keep like gold though.

CNN offers three rules to use for anyone trying to save during a time of inflation.

Mortgage expert David Reed invites Walletpop readers to ask him questions about real estate financing. leave your questions in the comment section of this post.

Q: David -- I've been asked by Freepoint to refinance with them. This company claims that I would build up wealth by investing the difference in my equity with them, getting an interest only loan. They state that having equity in your home is not good because someone can sue you and have a claim on your equity. After several years, one would have enough money to pay off their mortgage if they desired. I would like to get advice on this. They said the higher interest would be a tax write off and I would be investing the equity and getting a higher return. Please advise. Thank you. - Helen

A: Helen -- Don't return their phone calls. I don't know who that company is, and while I'm sure they're a fine organization, I'm not comfortable. I see three big problems with this "pitch" which used to be very popular among mortgage loan officers yet seems to be falling by the wayside.

1. Build wealth by investing the different in equity with them
2. Having equity in your home isn't good because someone can sue you
3. The higher interest would be a tax write off

Sheesh. And I thought loan officers like that were out of business or selling cars or something.

Mortgage expert David Reed invites Walletpop readers to ask him questions about real estate financing. leave your questions in the comment section of this post.

Q: The Fed has reduced rates by three full percentage points since last September. I have been following long term mortgage rates for quite some time. 15 and 30 year fixed rate mortgages are only .25% lower than they were last September. No one I ask seems to know why mortgage rates are still so high and happen to be rising as I write this. The current yield on the 10 year bond is 3.83, up from 3.47 early last week. My question is this. Do you think we will see lower mortgage rates in the future? - Carl

A: Carl -- good question. No, I really don't see lower rates in the future, certainly not anything like three percentage points. If 30-year and 15-year fixed rates do fall they might go down another 1/4 to 1/2% but nothing near to what the Fed has done with the Fed Funds Rate.

The fact is that the Fed has very little to do with fixed mortgage rates. Surprised?

This is part of a new series of columns called "The Naked Truth," by retirement expert Dan Solin. Please bring him your questions, in the comments box, and he will answer as many as he can.

This is a very common question: How do you know when to invest? Have the markets bottomed out? Or are we in for a precipitous decline?

Here is the answer: No one knows.

Here is what we do know:

Reuters is reporting that the 24th richest man in the world is planning on spending $150 million starting a magazine, web site and TV station called -- get ready -- Snob.

Snob has slightly a different meaning in Russia. They think of a snob as someone who has made a lot of money in life and is entitled to brag about it if they want. In America, of course, we see a snob as someone who looks down on others who aren't as rich or as classy, and thus, the rest of us tend to look down on snobs. At any rate, Andrei Shmarov, one of the billionaire creating Snob, told Reuters, "It's for people who are successful and those who want to be successful."

The web site will be out in June, the magazine in July, and it will focus on lifestyle, business and travel articles. The cable channel will follow shortly after that.

Retirement expert Dan Solin is the author of The Smartest Investment Book You'll Ever Read (Perigee Books 2006) and The Smartest 401(k) Book You'll Ever Read (Perigee Books, June 24, 2008).

Ask him your questions in the comments box and he will answer as many as he can. You can visit his website at Smartestinvestmentbook.com.

Read his most recent "Naked Truth" posts here. This column is designed to provide information about investing for retirement that will be relevant to a large group of readers. If you require legal service or other expert assistance, please seek the services of a competent professional.

This is the part of a new series of columns called "The Naked Truth," by retirement expert Dan Solin. Please bring him your questions, in the comments box, and he will answer as many as he can.

Want to make a lot of money in a down market? Write a book predicting a financial meltdown.

It worked for Howard Ruff. He racked up huge sales with his book, How to Prosper During the coming Bad Years, written in 1979.

The Securities and Exchange commission has rules in place which require investment brokers to be registered with them. This is for the protection of you, the consumer. It is just one way that the SEC tries to regulate the investment world and protect people from their own stupidity. (Along with that other simple rule: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.)

The SEC just launched a new program to warn you, the consumer, about doing business with unregistered brokers. Here's the deal: If someone is trying to sell you an "investment" and they're bragging about how much better it is than other investments out there, and they're unlicensed... there's a problem.

These kinds of guys are out to steal your money, and many of them aren't even selling a legitimate investment. They simply have an elaborate Ponzi Scheme going on, in which they're going to use your money to pay off investors who came into the deal before you did. You are left hoping that the scammer can convince more people to give him their money, in order for you to get paid back... and at some point the whole scheme crumbles.

This is part of a new series of columns called "The Naked Truth," by retirement expert Dan Solin. Please bring him your questions, in the comments box, and he will answer as many as he can.

An overriding concern of investors is saving for retirement. Yet the data indicates that, when you consider the ravages of fees, inflation and taxes, the average equity investor actually loses money.

These investors would have been better off not investing at all.

For most people, the benefits received from a charitable donation are simply the "warm fuzzies" and a tax deduction. However if you happen to be sitting on some extra cash earning a paltry 3% in a CD then an annuity could net you an even greater return!

A charitable gift annuity is a vehicle for giving to charity which also provides income for life to the donor and their spouse based on a set rate tied to your age. While this may sound too good to be true, charitable gift annuities have been around for many years and are used by many respectable charities.

Charitable gift annuities can be set up with almost any charity and will provide payments back to the donor on either a quarterly, annual or semi-annual basis. These payments don't fluctuate with the market and will last your entire life, even if the return surpasses your original gift amount.

The rate for charitable gift annuities is set every year in July based on the discount rate and the longer you've been living the higher your interest rate is. Currently a 55-year old can earn 5.5% for life while an 85-year old can net a 9.5% return on the principle donation. These rates are based on a one-life annuity and will be slightly lower on a two life plan.

Given that year over year property appreciation in the double digits is no longer seen as a birthright,, many retirees and soon-to-be retirees are feeling cash-strapped and aren't sure about how to plan for their futures.

In this great interview with Brian Williams, personal finance queen Suze Orman opines that people who are planning to stay in their current homes for life should make paying off their mortgages by age 63 their top financial priority. Your mortgage is $1,500 per month, by paying it off quickly you effectively reduce your retirement expenses by $1,500 per month -- it's pretty hard to make that up with savings, after taxes.

Suze's right, in the current environment: with CDs and savings accounts paying under 3%, paying off a mortgage at 6% makes sense. If interest rates rise and more attractive conservative investments become available, this strategy will lose its appeal.