The government WILL go after retirement accounts simply because the credit markets will dry up and stop lending money for trillion dollar plus deficits - so some other means has to be found. In retirement accounts, of all types, there is roughly 15 trillion dollars - that is enough to pay for another 10 to 15 years of borrowing, which is long enough for most politicians to get what they want out of their jobs.
There are basically 3 types of retire accounts that have a pool of “stored money” in them, and they vary in how easy it is for the consumer to recover money from before the government seizes them.
First you have IRAs, which are totally owned by the consumer - you can withdraw from them any time, but you pay income tax on it - and if you’re working, your marginal rate on that money can be high - at least 25%, maybe well into the 30s if it’s a lot of money at once. Plus, if you’re under 59.5, you pay another 10% penalty on the amount withdrawn, on top of income tax.
Next you have 401k’s - they are employer-managed, but the money is in the name of the consumer (that’s why you get a statement on a regular basis, with a balance on it). The rules for withdraw are similar to an IRA (income tax, plus 10% if younger), but once you withdraw, assuming you’re still working, you have to wait 6 months to start depositing again - and if you have a decent employer match, that can cost thousands.
Finally, you have defined pension plans. There is no “pot of money” with your name on it that you control, but there is a promise for monthly payments once you start drawing on it (either when you retire, or some time later). The amount you receive is based life expectancy, marriage handover (if you die), and how much the company contributed for you (typically based on your salary). There is no way (that I know of) to touch this money before you leave your company. Also, depending on the company, you may or may not have the option of a lump sum of money (after you retire), or you’re simply stuck with monthly payments. Pensions are insured by the federal government, up to certain limits.
Of these, the easiest for the government to grab are pensions, since there is no recourse for consumers. Companies with pensions have (or are at least required to have) a “pension fund”, which may have many billions of dollars in it. The government would simply take the money in that fund, and take over the promises to pay the retirees out of it. Next in line are 401k’s, due to their 6-month penalty after withdraw - makes it harder for people to pull out their money. Again, the government grabs your money (in this case) and gives you a promise to pay it back in monthly installments (i.e., an annuity). Finally, there are IRAs. For a lot of people, IRAs are sitting there, waiting to be grabbed by the owners - particularly if they are in bad times and don’t have much income (i.e., the 10% penalty isn’t much if you’re not working in the first place, or if you’re not making much) - so the government will likely go after these last, as many people (me included) will cash them in first.
The bottom-line - some $15 trillion exists in accounts not owned or controlled by the government. The country INSISTS on running trillion dollar plus deficits (and sorry, conservatives are as much to blame as liberals). The $15 trillion will by used to buy time - a decade, maybe a bit more.
So what’s in it for the government: They get to set the payback rates for your account, and they get to keep the difference (which will likely be most of it).
At that point, the country will be totally bankrupt. So why didn’t this happen in Cypress - when they went right into bank accounts? Simple - people in Europe don’t save for retirement - it is not their system. They’ve always relied on government to pay them in retirement and never saved in the above forms...so they’ve been hit faster and harder - and the knowledge of the $15T sitting ready for government confiscation is probably why we’re not yet like Cypress or Greece - but we will be broke sooner than later.
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