I'm just throwing this out there for discusion. A month ago congress held hearings on what to do with them. One solution was to end them and force everyone into a government bond system called GRAs. I thought that's what SS was for. Now there is more talk last week about ending all tax breaks for 401Ks and push GRAs. So much for the promise only the rich will be taxed under Obama.
My question is to you Dem's out there. You've already drank the kool aid and have blindly preached Obama's words eventhough his past tells a different story. Will you stand idlely by while this excellent vehicle for retirement is taken away from you and your forced into another government run retirement account set up once again as a slush fund for the politicians?
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John Adams “The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.”
Ronald Reagan: 'Everybody that is for abortion has already been born'
"I never said I was worth it. I only said I wouldn't do it for less " William F. Buckley Jr.
wow, if that happens I'll be cashing out all of it, and paying the penalty taxes... If they let me...
Otherwise they can come take it, along w/ my guns, from my cold dead fingers!
I was told I probably shouyld do it anyway over the weekend. However, I have been thinking about it more and more. They really can't take it all right away. That would absolutely crash the stock market if everyone's 401k's got removed out of the system. I think what they would do is drop all pre-deductions and therefore make them no more attractive then to save your own after tax money. On the other hand, should they make the attempt to take it all from you, trust me they will have a law in place making everything retroactive and you won't get to get your money out before they pass the law.
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John Adams “The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.”
Ronald Reagan: 'Everybody that is for abortion has already been born'
"I never said I was worth it. I only said I wouldn't do it for less " William F. Buckley Jr.
Nobody is saying that they're going to take it. They're just going to change the tax benefits, if anything. And there's not even much of a push for that, considering that the hearing where this came up didn't make a mention in the chairman's opening statements.
And don't be a lemming. If your money is in the market now, it's been beaten up on already. Selling now is selling low, the exact opposite of a good idea.
Nobody is saying that they're going to take it. They're just going to change the tax benefits, if anything. And there's not even much of a push for that, considering that the hearing where this came up didn't make a mention in the chairman's opening statements.
And don't be a lemming. If your money is in the market now, it's been beaten up on already. Selling now is selling low, the exact opposite of a good idea.
No it came up again last week. The Dems are looking at a trillion dollar deficit next year as it was reported today. They are throwing everything on the table to close that gap and to ad more spending. Hey Dem's are you still feeling comfortable that your getting a tax cut instead of a tax increase?
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John Adams “The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.”
Ronald Reagan: 'Everybody that is for abortion has already been born'
"I never said I was worth it. I only said I wouldn't do it for less " William F. Buckley Jr.
Last I heard there was talk of letting people withdraw 401Ks without paying any penalties.
401Ks are vital to many more people these days, since most companies have done away with the standard old pension programs. What should be done is simplify the process so people like me........an idiot when it comes to picking stocks, mutual funds, etc. can make better decisions. There are so many options its rediculous and most people I work with must be idiots as well, because in conversations with them about what their investments with the 401K is, they don't have much of a clue either.
The best rule is to go with the funds that have the lowest fees. If you're expecting 6% returns on something, and fees are 1.5%, that's a big difference from .5%. Mutual funds are all pretty much the same, as long as they're broad (not all tech or real estate or whatever).
I just went through the options that my company offers, and the funds with the highest fees have taken a much worse beating than the lower fee funds (down 20-25% YTD instead of 10-20%). I suspect that too many cooks spoiled the soup, with high priced manipulators trying to do too much to justify the expense.
Basically, get something that's as broad as possible, like an index fund. They also tend to be pretty low cost on the fees, since they only try to match the indexes instead of beat them. Then stick in there, and don't lose your nerve. Over the long haul, it'll pay off. If you're close to retirement (<10 years) you should start to shift money out of equities and into safer investments.
401K's are they soon to be history?
