Posted on 02/02/2014 6:51:20 AM PST by Kaslin
Our imperially inclined President is already acting on the promise he made during his State of the Union to take unilateral “action” outside of the normal legislative process. And at the top of his non-legislative agenda is the reformation of American retirement. Utilizing his oratory prowess and an executive memorandum, the President is promising to give Americans a new way of saving for retirement… Or something like that. Maybe “oratory prowess” was a bit of an overstatement. It turns out that his teleprompter was never taught about avoiding double negatives – let alone triple and quadruple negatives:
Obama: 'I'm Not Going to Wait for Congress' "Now, I'm hoping that Congress goes along with this, but I'm not going to wait for Congress. I could do more with Congress, but I'm not going to not do anything without Congress, not when it's about the basic security and dignity of American workers."
Well… Good. Now we’re all confused. It’s nice that we have a leader who can unite us. (What happened to his fantastic oratory skills? Was the teleprompter set on “stutter”?) He’s “not going to not do anything without Congress.” The point was still clear, despite the obfuscatory wording. Our all-powerful Campaigner-in-Chief will not wait for the legislative wheels of Constitutional government to be set in motion.
So what is he signing into non-law? Obama has directed his Treasury Secretary, Jack Lew, to create a new savings bond called the “MyRA”. (Cute name. It rings of Orwellian double-speak given that the MyRA will be a government program.) With mildly more competent sentence structure than before, the President outlined his cure for America’s retirement woes:
“And we're calling it "MyRA." Not IRA -- MyRA.”
Thank you, Mr. President. I get it. You replaced the “I” in “IRA” with the word “My” to make me feel like I have ownership over the money I invest in this governmental financial instrument. Very clever.
“And what it is, it's a new type of savings bond that we can set up without legislation that encourages Americans to begin to build a nest egg.”
Wait! We’re creating a new savings bond!! And to think I was planning on not saving anything until I started collecting Social Security. Quick! Where do I sign up! (My kingdom for a sarcasm font.)
“Workers can contribute through automatic deductions…”
Am I supposed to be excited that the Treasury Department will allow me to “invest” with the same technological tools that allow me to subscribe to Netflix?
“MyRAs are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government.”
Oh, that makes me feel good. Anyone know if S&P is planning on downgrading the US again?
“[You] can keep the same account even if [you] change jobs.”
Oh good! So if you like your retirement, you can keep it.
“And it's affordable. You can open an account with as little as $25. You can contribute as little as $5 at a time.”
Because nothing helps build a comfortable retirement more than occasional $5 contributions to a government savings bond.
The Administration’s push to portray some gimmicky treasury bond as the solution to America’s retirement woes, only highlights the White House’s comically incompetent leadership on fiscal issues. The real problem, aside from Mr. Obama’s dependence on an apparently glitchy teleprompter, is far deeper than an insufficient choice of treasury bonds. Artificially low interest rates, declining household wealth, income stagnation, and an abysmal jobs market are far more painful to the retirement prospects of American workers than anything Treasury can singlehandedly address. The President’s adoption of extra-legislative gimmicks only serve to illustrate the leaderless incompetence of this White House.
It is becoming more apparent that the remainder of Obama’s tenure will be a hopeless mess of legislative gridlock, and executive politicking. The MyRA is nothing more than the first of many attempts to convince the American people that Obama will dictatorially go around Congress for “the greater good” of the nation. Or, as the President put it, he’s “not going to not do anything without Congress”.
It’s another obama boondogle in the making. How long before the minimum contribution arbitrarily changes?
MYRA? SD WARNED YOU IN 2012: OBAMA BEGINS PUSH TO CONFISCATE IRA’S & 401K’S
With last night’s announcement by President Obama of his new MyRA, the “No Risk, Guaranteed Return” Retirement Savings Bond Program, we thought it apropos to bring back AGXIIK’s November 2012 warning that President Obama had begun a push to confiscate Americans’ IRA’s & 401k’s, and force retirement assets into treasury bonds.
While many have scoffed, we have long warned at SD that Americans’ retirement plans are the last remaining bastions of wealth for the criminal banksters to pilfer, and that they will ultimately be confiscated via forced allocation into treasury investment vehicles.
With President Obama’s State of the Union speech on 1/28/2014, the process has officially begun.
As AGXIIK warned, Please realize that this is 100% about funding $1.5 TRILLION annual deficits using Americans’ retirement funds, as there is simply no other remaining pool of wealth able to soak up $1.5 Trillion in T-bills annually.
http://www.silverdoctors.com/obama-begins-push-to-confiscate-iras-401ks/
I think the rate is the same as that paid to federal employees on their individual 403b accounts when invested in the “G fund”. This pays the average rate of what government long term bonds pay I believe. The rate has been far above the bank savings rates for the past few years. The point being is they do not own the bonds so there is no potential of losing money because open market rates rise. So, it is as guaranteed as is the T bond. It is one of the sources that the government goes to when they will exceed the debt limit. They just borrow these funds in a paper exercise. The truth be known, there is no one who knows exactly how much the government is on the hook for above the stated 17 trillion in debt when funds like these plus the unfunded pension promises are included. We are not just broke as a nation, we are broken beyond repair.
You'd be better off investing in Netflix, (NFLX). I bought it in MY (Roth) IRA at $50/share. Beat that MyRA.
Yup, remember it was originally called a contribution to Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Social Security Trust Fund. Today it is the social security tax. Insurance means you own it, tax means the government owns it. Say goodbye to it.
What’s MyRA is OurRsA.
Wow! (My kingdom for a sarcasm font.) I’m thinking of changing my tag line.
If the critters in DC want CW-II, grabbing our IRAs will most certainly suffice.
Bring it, Obamaholes, and prepare to perpetually watch your six.
I’m willing to bet you could go to Dean Whitter, Morgan Stanly or any number of financial entities and set up an IRA that is automatically funded through your checking account with monthly deductions.. You would also have the added benefit of having more options of investment vehicles.
The problem comes after you convert it to a Roth IRA. Once you open a Roth IRA you have to wait 5 years or pay a 10% penalty to withdraw the principal. If you spend the earnings before 59 1/2, there is a 20% penalty.
You might be on to something, but high earners (ie those with influence) absolutely love 401K's. It is a great way to save tax free money if you have lots of discretionary income. Plus 401K's feed Wall Street a large investment stream to make money. So if the left wants this it will be a tough road as the left has lots of rich people.
My money held by DC for my later use in retirement?
Isn’t that called “Social Security”
Forty years ago my employer put on a drive to get everyone to enroll in payroll savings to be “invested” in US savings bonds. I refused, I may have been the only one to do so, spoiling their drive for 100% participation. I will never forget the strange look I got when I told the guy who was doing his best to persuade me that I considered it UNpatriotic to buy savings bonds because doing so just encouraged the government to throw away more money and if the feds would stick to the constitution they would not need to borrow money.
More and more every day I see proof that I was right.
Clintons’ Secretary of Labor, Donna Shalala, wanted to “capture” all the unpaid taxes on 401k’s since her first day in office. The left has been salivating to get their grubby filthy hands on 401k’s from the day Reagan instituted them.
That’s interesting. Has the company made any statements?
January 30, 2014 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Proposed legislation from Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) would expand access to privately run, portable retirement plans for all workers.
“The plan would be shaped as a lifetime stream of income,” Harkin said in a press conference. Unlike 401(k) plans, there would be no lump sums and no borrowing. The assets would be annuitized at retirement age.
http://plansponsor.com/Senator_Harkin_Proposes_USA_Retirement.aspx
Is it just me, or does the “MyRA” sound like another “semi-optional” social security tax?
If Obama can dupe or coerce people to pay more for health insurance but get less coverage, does anyone think it’ll be long before he can convince people that “investing” in government bonds paying little to nothing, is also a good thing?
For starters, it's unnecessary for the feds to get involved woth holding the money. The Roth IRA is already a very easy way to set up retirement savings. The problem is people aren't bothering because (1)interest on savings is so low and (2)they don't have extra money to save.
The difference is that if the money is with the feds, you have to go to the feds to get your money back. What if they decide not to, to change it to an annuity, or to consfiscate it if you don't pay for Obamacare or whatever?
You turn over your real dollars to us, and, we give you fake dollars in the future.
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