re: CNBC: For millions of Americans, the 401k is a failure

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Ummm....so I am in my early 40s...how much at risk are my 401k and IRA holdings?

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Start to worry when the people who vote aren't the ones with funded 401ks.

This is scary, but typical of the direction we're headed in.

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proposed eliminating the tax breaks for 401(k)s and using the money saved to create government-run retirement plans.

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is not the same as

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They want the 24 Trillion in retirement savings plans.

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This is not political talk board where we can take such random jumps. =)

The system is broken. We can assign blame wherever we choose, but I'll give you a quick example of the issue at hand.

My grandfather was born in 1915, left school after 7th grade to work, served 12 years enlisted in the army, and came back to NOLA and went to work driving streetcars for NOPSI (who ran public transport in NOLA before there was an RTA). He worked from the late 1040s to the late 1980s. He then retired and lived until 2004. He had a pension and social security, a paid off house, medicare with a fully funded supplemental plan (paid for as a retirement benefit) and while he was in no way rich, he certainly never worried about money in retirement. My grandmother never worked a day in her life and she died about halfway through my grandfather's retirement.

My mother was born in 1960. She finished HS, did a semester of college, and had me. Eventually her and my dad divorced (after I was in college). She's worked for years. She does not make a lot of money. She has a small house and drives a 13 year old car that is held together with duct tape and prayers. She never remarried. She will get SS, but beyond that, her 401K balance won't provide much. She is either going to need to be supported when she can no longer work, or, her standard of living will collapse. Oh, and she has health issues.

I would not say my grandpa worked any harder or worked any harder than my mother. Both lived paycheck to paycheck while they worked. The difference is, my grandpa also lived paycheck to paycheck (sort of) in retirement due to his pension, and my mom won't have nearly that much in her 401K.

I think you also need to consider that the idea of an extended retirement is a pretty new thing... and for most of society, people worked just about until they died.

I'm not really planning on retiring no matter what I have socked away. Push me out while my death is imminent.

Retirement just seems dreadful and the route to an early grave if you don't keep busy.

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So, now we're defining "rich" as "smart enough to save for retirement" and "workers" as "too dumb to save for retirement".

If the "workers" would quit smoking, getting tattoos, buying $600 phones every 18 months, driving cars that equal or exceed their annual incomes and saved 10% of their income, they would all retire comfortably. Not "buy an island and a G6 rich" but comfortable.

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All of this.

frick these sumbitches. What they are going to do is force more of us overseas or to cash the frick out and go all cash/precious metals etc. Wanna see the market tank? Eliminate the tax incentives of the 401k. You can't keep changing the fricking target because dumbasses won't save.

Money Matters is mandatory subject at my kids' high school here in Dallas.

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Start to worry when the people who vote aren't the ones with funded 401ks.

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So...NOW?