Columnist Brett Arend, writing in the investment advice column Green Thumb, writes a column that suggests the place to park your extra cash while waiting for a better opportunity is in bank savings and money market accounts, or bonds, or for those with a "strong stomach," maybe even a mutual fund!

This is the reverse of good advice. Parking cash in the bank will lose money because rates are so low you'll never exceed the cost of inflation (which is rising fast) and taxes. Bonds are no guarantee because no one can predict interest rates or other factors. The key to wealth creation is to OWN, not lend your money to a bond issuer or a bank.

There is only one investment I know of that lets you become your own bank: participating or mutual whole life insurance. When you buy a mutual policy, you become an owner in the insurance company (thus "mutual" or sometimes referred to as "participating"). You earn interest on the premiums you pay, your premiums build cash value that you can borrow against with just your signature for any use. You don't need permission, and your policy doesn't have to earn an extra profit to pay the stockholders of the insurance company because YOU are the owner.

The Journal's sloppy reporting and misguided advice is all too typical. There's too much noise and hype and those who take trhe time to learn how money actually works will know to ignore the bad ideas and stick to a form of cash preservation that is hundreds of years old, and survived intact through the worst financial periods in history. 

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