Again I see a flurry of letters about those evil rich somehow finding magical solutions to minimize their taxes that no one else has been able to discover. It's time to face the truth.

You petty whiners are nothing but a bunch of crybabies. You rail against these people because you didn't have (or use) the guts, the gumption, the talent, the drive, the intelligence or the luck to be one of them.

There are two prime functions of money. One is to spend (and we could spend months discussing that). The other is NOT to save because most of what we call saving is really deferred spending.

The other function is to generate more money. How many of you having any kind of windfall - an inheritance, a tax refund, a raise or whatever - immediately planned a new car, a bigger TV, a vacation, on and on. Invest? Good heavens NO! Find a dime spend a dollar.

You have not the faintest notion of how to secure your future. Instead you moan and cry about the wealthy-those who know how not to find a dime and spend a dollar but how to find a dime, spend a nickel and invest the other nickel. When will you wake up to the fact that your poor financial circumstances are your own fault? (Apologies to those for whom that is not true but are innocently needy. But who are those? Ten percent of the whiners? In my experience they are the ones who are not whining.)

Look at yourselves in a mirror and ask, did I really need that new car? That vacation? That bigger TV? WAKE UP! Learn what to do with your money while you still have it. It's just common sense.

When to start investing? Sixteen is not too soon and 46 - or even 56 - is not too late. What to invest in? Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate, coins, your own business, stamps, art - the list is endless.

Get up off the couch and quit whimpering. You only reveal what pitiful creatures the liberals' nanny state is turning you into.

PHIL MEMBURY

Coeur d'Alene