Sense on Cents

An individual whom I highly respect submitted this commentary and requested I publish it. Given the respect I have for him, the depth of his perspectives, and the serious nature of this topic, I am happy to provide an outlet via Sense on Cents for his thoughtful analysis and projections. This commentary and the implications as outlined should give us all reason to pause and think.

LD

Blueprint for Government Takeover of IRAs by Comrade Joe

This blueprint is imaginary; the references are factual. Let’s connect the dots:

1.  Learn from Argentina (Oct 2008):
Argentina’s Property Grab – A cautionary tale for anyone who owns a retirement account. – Argentine President Cristina Kirchner announced this week that her government intends to nationalize the country’s private pension system. If Congress approves this property grab, $30 billion in individually held retirement accounts — think 401(k)s — managed by private pension funds will become government property.  – Wall Street Journal 10/23/2008

2.  Study Professor Teresa Ghilarducci’s Paper (Oct 2009):
Democratic leaders in the U.S. House discuss confiscating 401(k)s, IRAs – … The testimony of Teresa Ghilarducci, professor of economic policy analysis at the New School for Social Research in New York, in hearings Oct. 7 drew the most attention and criticism. Testifying for the House Committee on Education and Labor, Ghilarducci proposed that the government eliminate tax breaks for 401(k) and similar retirement accounts, such as IRAs, and confiscate workers’ retirement plan accounts and convert them to universal Guaranteed Retirement Accounts (GRAs) managed by the Social Security Administration. – Carolina Journal Online

Read Ghilarducci’s paper: Guaranteed Retirement Accounts – Toward retirement income security – Economic Policy Insitiute

3.  Have government propose legislation to allow conversion of 401(k) and IRAs into annuities. (Jan 2010):
Retiree Annuities May Be Pushed by Obama After Market Losses –  By Theo Francis – The Obama administration is weighing how the government can encourage workers to turn their savings into guaranteed income streams following a collapse in retiree accounts when the stock market plunged. The U.S. Treasury and Labor Departments will ask for public comment as soon as next week on ways to promote the conversion of 401(k) savings and Individual Retirement Accounts into annuities or other steady payment streams. – Bloomberg

4.  After the next market crash, with populace roused, have legislative leaders decry the greedy and obscenely profitable private sector insurance and annuity companies demanding a more ‘competitive’ government sponsored solution.

5.  Propose and pass legislation for nationalizing retirement accounts using similar methods employed in passing national health care legislation. Rolls Royce (large) pension annuities can be taxed in order to provide annuities to those less fortunate (nonsavers).

Comrade Joe wishes to remain an unnamed member of the proletariat.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 11th, 2010 at 12:05 PM and is filed under General, IRAs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.