Here’s an interesting credit crisis byproduct: The 50 million current Social Security recipients probably won’t see any extra SS income until 2012. In fact, millions on the government dime might see their monthly checks shrink.

The carnage of the past two years in the stock market is giving investors a clear warning; learn a new way of doing things or get ready for more of the same. The money clock never stops ticking and the longer you wait to make the necessary changes to stop the bleeding in your accounts the less you’ll have when you retire. Every day you put this off increases the chance of being broke in retirement.

Brother, can you spare half a million? Your family’s (new and improved) share of U.S. debt… GM officially kaput… the dirty details and a brief rant, below… Markets hit a critical “pivot point,” says Rob Parenteau… The one number from China that’s boosting stocks, commodities and currencies today… Plus, two good reasons to buy a precious metal… especially silver

Feel like getting angry? Treasury publishes latest debt/deficit details… But Fed now encouraged to intervene more… latest data show historic inflation drop… How to invest accordingly? Burritt on near-term trading, Grantham on the long haul… Byron King explains why $40 oil is “worst of both worlds”… Bill Jenkins explains the dollar’s recent downturn… Plus, the Dububble expands… refrigerated beaches on UAE shores…

You know the old saying about teaching a man to fish, as opposed to just giving him a fish. Well, the state of the US Social Security system has led me to propose to you a new version of the fish proverb: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a politician to fish and he’ll steal your pole”.

Do you think the consumer price index understates the real cost of living? Well then, the New York Times says you buy into “conspiracy theories.”

Gen X wonders if it can ever retire. As Wall Street waits for Citi and Merrill shoes to drop, Goldman issues gloomy forecast. As if write-downs weren’t enough, here comes another $250 billion problem. A 17% first-quarter loss…When hedge funds don’t hedge. Coal prices shoot skyward… The sector ideally positioned to benefit.