BOOK REVIEW: Ben Stein says someone is lying to you

In his latest book on finances, Ben Stein has a simple message for young people: You’ve been lied to and those lies are keeping you from being financially secure. Even wealthy.

The Capitalist Code: It Can Save Your Life and Make You Very Rich is a short, lively read — it takes a little more than an hour to digest — from the clever man whose television career portrayed him as a boring teacher.

Its message is known by many, practiced by few, and rarely taught: Capitalism is a powerful engine of wealth and everyone can be a part of it.

Stein doesn’t spend a lot of time focusing on those that demonize capitalism, but he also doesn’t give the system’s critics a pass.

One of the things critics of capitalism lie about, Stein says, is that the game is rigged and only the currently rich can get richer. Not only is this not true, he writes, but any person from any walk of life, any color, or any sex can become rich, or at least financially secure, by following his three-step prescription.

His advice is so obvious that it begs the question of why it isn’t taught as an article of truth in schools.

He points out that roughly 80 percent of millennials have no plan at all for retirement, or no plan at all for their lives. They know little about finances and money and without some knowledge, they are doomed to insecurity.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

Stein writes that you don’t have to be an energetic entrepreneur or the scion of some wealthy family to participate in the capitalist wealth machine.

This short book would make a great gift for anyone in their 20s or 30s. Even 40-year-olds could easily benefit from its simple plan.

The Capitalist Code: It Can Save Your Life and Make You Very Rich, Ben Stein, 208 pages.