Posted on 11/27/2012 11:17:14 AM PST by Perseverando
NEW YORK – Two years ago, as WND reported, the Obama administration was proceeding with a novel way to finance trillion-dollar budget deficits by forcing IRA and 401(k) holders to buy Treasury bonds by mandating the placement of government-structured annuities in their retirement accounts.
Remarkably, those financial professionals specializing in private retirement savings and the U.S. citizens investing in private retirement plans now face the possibility the Obama administration and its allies on the political left will impose rules and regulations that effectively abolish the private retirement savings and investment markets.
Recent evidence suggests government officials continue to eye the multi-trillion dollar private retirement savings market, including IRAs and 401(k) plans, eyeing the opportunity to redistribute private retirement savings to less affluent Americans and to force the retirement savings out of the private market and into government-controlled programs investing in government-issued debt.
Government takeover?
An Investment Company Institute study published this month found that U.S. retirement assets totaled $18.5 trillion at the end of the second quarter 2012, of which 3.5 trillion was in IRAs and $5.1 trillion was in 401(k) plans.
Since 2010, the U.S. Treasury Department and the Department of Labor have been holding combined hearings on various plans designed to introduce government-mandated retirement plans and investment options, including government annuities invested primarily in U.S. Treasury debt, into the private retirement savings market.
“This hearing was set up to explore why Americans are not saving as much for their retirement as they could,” explained National Seniors Council National Director Robert Crone, describing a recent Treasury-Labor hearing held in the Labor Department’s main auditorium.
“However it is clear that his is just the first step toward a government takeover. It feels like the beginning of the debate over health care and we all know how that ended up.”
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
You left out the main “why” reason why “Americans” (certain ones at least) are not saving enough for their retirement -
IRRESPONSIBILITY.
Against?
Probably not.
After?
Probably.
I’m baaaaaaack!
Predicting the government conversion of 401(k)s since January 2009!
“less affluent Americans”? That would be me. So, all of you on here who have 401ks or IRAs, just give me your money now and let’s keep the government out of it. I hope people see the sarcasm.
But, here are a few questions:
If the government takes your IRAs and 401ks, do you have to pay all of the early withdrawal fees?
As I understand it, if everyone tried to cash in, OR the government tried to take it, the money’s not there.
:: It’s private property, isn’t it? ::
I don’t care who you are. THAT, right there, is FUNNY!
Fair enough.
Not enough left after taxes and expenses.
In that case, we're going to have to reintroduce them to the 2nd.
Duly noted. When I think of the average American, I mistakenly still think of the “reasonable person”, even though I was shown on the 6th of this month that the “reasonable person” was long ago stomped to death by a horde of Black Friday shoppers wielding EBT cards and Obamaphones.
Private Property? The government has shown that they can unilaterally sieze that long ago. See Kilo vs State of Connecticut.
if you can be forced to buy obama brand healthcare, you can be forced to buy worthless bonds.
They want to roll it all into one big pile to hide the massive shortfalls in union pension funds.
“Get your money out - NOW! Get out! Get out! Get out!”
My company has a pretty hefty match so I will continue to take advantage of that. What folks close to retirement can do if they don’t want to liquidate their 401k is move much of it to a self-directed IRA. You would have more control. You can also invest much of it in munipal bonds and non-taxable instruments to help starve the bastards of taxes. Small step but every bit helps.
these are reparations!
those kept down by “the man” are ENTITLED. The need obama phones, free xboxes, free booze, free cable, free edukashun, free cars, free bus passes, etc.
GHWBush created the mess.
IIRC, BJ Clinton tried this during his admin too.
There is a growing concern that brokerages and banks are not maintaining enough money on hand to pay depositors desiring to ‘cash out’.
My family cashed in the last IRA money in August 2008, just before the stock market tanked. We saw it coming way back then, and it wasn't just about the ghastly communists in the Obama Administration either, though they have certainly made things worse all around. Our monetary system is in free-fall.
We also cashed out on a large insurance policy this past January 2012. Insurance companies have usually invested conservatively in commercial real estate. Commercial real estate has generally been considered a ‘safe’ investment, but not right now as real property values have crashed into a fiscal basement. So, we cashed in then just in case the company went bankrupt. We took the tax hit and paid off the mortgage and car loan.
I am no longer trusting of banks or any institution holding deposits and am working towards getting off the grid. For me this is easier than for most folks as I have no dependents.
Don't be silly. "Early withdrawal fees" aren't there because 401k plans don't like the idea of early withdrawals--the early withdrawal fees are part of the tax code...in other words, the law.
If they can change the law to sieze our savings, they can sure as hell change the law about withdrawal fees.
I think you got it.
0bama is implementing de facto reparations, wealth transfers from “Euro-Americans” to “Afro-Americans”.
Every policy of his has this as its underlying intent.
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