No offense, but the breadth of this mentality is exactly why I am looking for housing prices to undergo a correction. Although, in general, I do agree.
I started putting For Sale signs in all my neighbors front lawns. They looked confused, so I told 'em: don't worry I am just borrowing your house on margin so I can buy it back at a lower price.
Equity mutual funds are generally a giant scam. 80% underperform the indexes, and a Vanguard (Vanguard has the lowest fees) index fund is a much better option. I also recommend government bonds. Series EE, and to a lesser extent Series I. Home ownership is generally a good idea. If the person asking me is wealthy, there's alot more to tell them. I'd then advise them to seek out some good hedge funds to invest in. Also, for the wealthy, up to 5% of ones net worth should be in physical gold bullion. Munis are also an obvious choice for those with high incomes.
I prefer to start with a walk down a beach. After a while what the person really wants, needs and expects will surface.If there needs can be scaled down to what is possible doing the type of trading I do, then I would help them build an maintain a portfolio of winning Seasonal Calendar spreads!