Libertarian financial advice

Is there something that happened to you that -- Bam! -- made you into a Libertarian?

No. I just always leaned toward it. I mean, I was the kind of person who didn't vote for 30 years. Then one day my wife says I should run for president. So here I am.

What did you think of money when you were a kid?

I knew I wanted it. A lot of it.

What do you splurge on?

CDs. I spend a lot on classical music and opera.

Do Libertarians believe in Social Security?

We've got to get out of Social Security. Our parents paid into it for years and the politicians squandered it. There is no trust fund to speak of. We would replace it by selling off our assets -- like the 70 percent of 13 Western states the federal government still owns -- old military bases, reserves of commodities. Those proceeds would go to people still dependent on Social Society, while the rest of us would be free of the Social Security tax and free to invest our money any way we like. If you put aside 5 percent of your paycheck in a regular bank account, you'd do as much as three times better than you would have with Social Security.

What about other taxes, like the so-called death tax?

Death tax -- gone. Capital gains tax -- gone. Gift tax -- gone. Corporate taxes -- gone.

You turned down federal matching funds in 1996 and now in 2000. Why not take the money?

You wouldn't believe the forms I'd have to fill out. We should get rid of all campaign finance laws -- it's just another case of government thinking it knows more than you do. We would stop all government funding of any political party or candidate. I believe candidates should raise money any way they like. You don't like that this candidate's getting money from Chinese nuns? Don't vote for him. But keep government out of it.

Where do you stand on the minimum wage?

Gone. There should be no minimum wage. The only people profiting from the minimum wage are labor unions who use it to crowd out people from the lower end of the wage pool who can't find any other work.

What kinds of work have you done?

Everything. In the 1960s I was an investment counselor, I wrote books, I published an investment newsletter, and then after years of that I decided to help build the Libertarian Party.

What was your best year ever financially?

That would have to be 1974. My book "You Can Profit From a Monetary Crisis" was a New York Times No. 1 bestseller, and just the paperback rights went for $650,000. As the author, I got just half of that, by the way.

What do you do for money now?

I've spent the last two years building the party, so I rely on my investments.

Do you like the Internet stocks to invest in?

No, no, no ... my portfolio is what I call a permanent portfolio. It's designed to be fail-safe and so it can handle anything the market throws at you. That doesn't include these very volatile Internet stocks.

Do you prefer individual stocks or mutual funds?

Mostly mutual funds. In the last 30 years my portfolio has lost money in only two years. It's very conservative.

Speaking of losing money and the stock market, would you abolish the Securities and Exchange Commission?

There's nothing they can do that you can't do for yourself. We need the government completely out of the stock market. If politicians were really smarter than you, they'd go into the stock market and make billions. But they don't because they aren't. We should abolish the SEC and let you choose your own regulator.

So you'd also toss out Alan Greenspan?

I would work with the Congress to dismantle the Federal Reserve system, yes, and that would eventually mean we wouldn't have Alan Greenspan or any of the others on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors. We would go back to the gold standard.

What's your worst money habit?

I spend money way too easily.

But you don't spend your money on stocks way too easily?

No, I believe individuals need to educate themselves and take responsibility for their financial decisions. I used to like gambling in casinos, but I don't anymore. That's what Internet stocks remind me of -- anytime you try to beat the market's average rate of return, you're speculating. And I'm no speculator.

• View blog reactions