Hrkdrivr

Did this already too... Facts without emotion. This is one of the issues that will affect/bend the 2014 elections.

UAL T38 Phlyer

Good to hear, and I echo the sentiment. Present the facts, your complaint, and a solution.

Politicians get away with things we disapprove of because no one complains. There's no retribution.

Conversely, they are compelled to act when people gripe and petition (even if they do not have a majority to coerce others to their point of view).

The proverbial squeaky wheel....

I have never been as active writing my elected officials as I have been in the last 5 years, and I'll admit, a lot has been ALPA's calls to action, with easy links to do it. I usually change their cut-n-paste boiler plate to make it personal, but the web has made this easy...so no excuse to not do it.

I sent all three letters (above) in 10 minutes.

satpak77

What the younger folks don't realize is that the 401(k), a product of Reagan's team, was invented to move the burden of retirement off the employer (traditional pensions) to the employee (market based returns). And CSRS, the predecessor to FERS, was a pension type plan for the federal government. FERS replaced it, and flash forward to 2013, we have folks who want to bring federal workers "in line" with their private sector colleagues.

Packrat

Actually, it was designed to move the MONEY from the accounts employers had to maintain to fund pensions into the stock market. The 401k "revolution" provided the funds for the "trickle down" economy.

satpak77

Negative Pack, take a look at these links.

Teresa Ghilarducci: Why the 401(k) is a “Failed Experiment” | The Retirement Gamble | FRONTLINE | PBS

http://www.ebri.org/pdf/publications...0205fact.a.pdf

http://www.ici.org/pdf/per12-02.pdf

The 401(k)'s 'Father' Wants to Hit Reset - US News and World Report

UASIT

Good stuff...Thanks for posting...

Atlas Shrugged

Thanks Satpak77

That was sobering but good info. Can't help but feel like a chump though.

satpak77

Thanks guys. As an aside, the mutual fund industry "boom" took off after the 401(k) retirement plan was declared operational in 1981.

The "invest for the long term, don't pull your money out" mantra was pushed by all the companies, along with fancy charts and high powered theories why "riding out the cycles" is best. Fidelity, one of, if not, the, mutual fund powerhouse in the world, had the Magellan Fund, run by Peter Lynch. He wrote "One Up on Wall Street" copyrighted 1989 (note the year) which turned into a NY Times Bestseller, eagerly consumed by the American public, who in the feel-good 80's, was happy to follow Magellan's founder's teachings and get rich.

Corporations (and the US Govt) hired professional marketing folks to push 401(k)/FERS type programs onto employees and get them away from "old school, archaic pensions." When you retire, why be "tied to your old employer via his pension, why not let the market determine your wealth, and feel what freedom feels like".

With Prince's soundtracks making the top 40, cocaine use reaching all time highs, and parachute pants being in style, the new "hot" retirement program called 401(k) found little resistance in the workplace.

The thing is, that mutual fund managers are paid (amongst other methods) by % of AUM, or Assets Under Management. So, they do not want anybody pulling money out of accounts when times get tough or stormy.

We (well most of us) learned, post 2000 internet crash, and post 2008 real estate fueled crash, that "riding things out" does not work.

Ask the Enron investor (Enron was on the SP 500) how "holding for the long term" worked out for him. Chart below



In the end, (have we seen this show before?), the mutual fund managers, corporate CEO's, and others, "got theirs", and the line employee did not.

Thread Drift Alert from Military Benefits and Budget....my apologies

T6 Pilot

Your post makes me feel stupid....just saying.

Winged Wheeler

satpak77,

this would make for an interesting topic in the money forum.

WW