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'Disaster in the Making': Trump to Open 401(k)s to Crypto, Private Equity Vultures
https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-private-equity-401k"alternative investments" = SNAKE OIL.
"Stuffing private equity, crypto, and other 'alternative assets' into 401(k)s is about propping up scams and bailing out an industry that's run out of buyers," said one critic.
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Thursday that would allow private equity and cryptocurrencies into Americans' 401(k)s, appeasing corporate interests that lobbied for the change and disregarding warnings about the risks it poses to retirement accounts.
Citing an unnamed senior White House official, CNN reported that "the order calls for the Labor Department and Securities and Exchange Commission to issue guidance to employers about providing access to those alternative investments in their retirement accounts."
. . .
"This is the holy grail for private equity," Axios reported Thursday, noting that federal rules currently bar most defined-contribution plans from investing in private equity and crypto. Both industries spent big on the 2024 election; the investment management behemoth BlackRock, whose CEO has advocated opening 401(k)s to private equity, donated to Trump's inaugural committee.
James Baratta and Whitney Curry Wimbish noted in The American Prospect earlier this year that "there was added desperation from the industry" for access to 401(k)s "because of their dire need for cash amid weakening performance and fewer deals."
Citing an unnamed senior White House official, CNN reported that "the order calls for the Labor Department and Securities and Exchange Commission to issue guidance to employers about providing access to those alternative investments in their retirement accounts."
. . .
"This is the holy grail for private equity," Axios reported Thursday, noting that federal rules currently bar most defined-contribution plans from investing in private equity and crypto. Both industries spent big on the 2024 election; the investment management behemoth BlackRock, whose CEO has advocated opening 401(k)s to private equity, donated to Trump's inaugural committee.
James Baratta and Whitney Curry Wimbish noted in The American Prospect earlier this year that "there was added desperation from the industry" for access to 401(k)s "because of their dire need for cash amid weakening performance and fewer deals."
9 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
was that it allowed older workers to leave the employment rolls and reduce unemployment numbers.
Repubs hate it because they want excess people looking for work driving wages down.
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