It seems like only a few short years ago no one was worried about retirement. The stock market was roaring, home prices were rising and the economy was in solid shape. Everything looked rosy and many people were planning for an early retirement or at least one that carried no risk.

There has been much ink spent lately on the problems in the housing market. Talk of people losing their homes because of bad loans, dishonest mortgage lenders and poor planning are rampant in most any paper you pick up today. Let's look at who is really responsible for this mess.