General Discussion

JoePhilly

(27,787 posts)

57. I never said 401ks should replace Pensions.

Sun Apr 29, 2012, 07:47 PM

Apr 2012

And again, if you remove the 401k from the discussion, do you think he would have made BETTER decisions with the money?

I don't see anything in the article that suggest that YES, he would have made better decisions.

Again ... the 401k is not the problem.

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Guy who wrote book in favor of 401ks in the 90s - can't retire cuz his 401(k) is now in tatters [View all] Liberal_in_LA Apr 2012 OP

what a surprise. i remember when 401ks were replacing regular pensions & being touted as HiPointDem Apr 2012 #1

investment 'experts' would tell employees, $5 per month will be $1 million Liberal_in_LA Apr 2012 #2

financial industry made out well on the deal though. lots of nice fees. HiPointDem Apr 2012 #5

And now they're pushing this as a replacement for Social Security too. crazylikafox Apr 2012 #9

i don't know why people fall for it. my theory is that it's generational. they bring round their HiPointDem Apr 2012 #11

uh-oh. time to write a new book. nt magical thyme Apr 2012 #3

lol. he probably will. Liberal_in_LA Apr 2012 #4

So what is he recommending? Not saving for retirement? badtoworse Apr 2012 #6

he's just lamenting his loss. The expert in the article is reccing that 401ks be rethought Liberal_in_LA Apr 2012 #10

The statistics cited are sad. It's going to be a huge problem badtoworse Apr 2012 #16

The problem is that this only works if you make enough money and start early enough to CTyankee Apr 2012 #28

It works if a person has a balanced portfolio and don't over tweak the savings. bluestate10 Apr 2012 #41

I didn't do that. I simply did not make enough money to put aside for my retirement because CTyankee Apr 2012 #56

"you have to invest prudently and have the discipline not to use the coalition_unwilling Apr 2012 #30

That's why real retirement accounts prevent you from withdrawing, not merely make it expensive saras Apr 2012 #7

I never understood how they expected us Curmudgeoness Apr 2012 #8

Even if you are, they are so restricted in choices and it takes weeks or months to make a move, Egalitarian Thug Apr 2012 #13

great point roscoeroscoe Apr 2012 #14

You aren't expected to be a competent investor. If you were competent and knew A Simple Game Apr 2012 #49

That is true. We were always expected to be incompetent. Curmudgeoness Apr 2012 #51

K&R&No Shit. n/t Egalitarian Thug Apr 2012 #12

About financial consultants, something really weird just happened to me. Baitball Blogger Apr 2012 #15

I had a financial consultant come to the door years ago. Curmudgeoness Apr 2012 #19

That was my impression, too. Baitball Blogger Apr 2012 #20

When I was laid off my job in 2010, my 401K was also in tatters. RebelOne Apr 2012 #17

I'm glad you have that nest egg for the extras Liberal_in_LA Apr 2012 #18

Not that much. Only a few thousand RebelOne Apr 2012 #54

There was no money market or safe harbor in the plan? badtoworse Apr 2012 #22

Only before 59 1/2 Ruby the Liberal Apr 2012 #24

If only Social Security had been "Democratized". (--Angry sarcasm. /nt Festivito Apr 2012 #21

Bet he thought we didn't need all those dirty manufacturing jobs either NNN0LHI Apr 2012 #23

we'll all be rich from working on computers. Just get a computer degree, that's all you need Liberal_in_LA Apr 2012 #27

Three attempts to build a 401k failed for me. eyewall Apr 2012 #25

"I didn�t make much of the decline of pensions" Ruby the Liberal Apr 2012 #26

This guy is a dope ... his 401k was not the problem. JoePhilly Apr 2012 #29

The popping of the tech bubble in 2000 also did not help but I agree with coalition_unwilling Apr 2012 #31

Right ... no argument here. JoePhilly Apr 2012 #36

Look at his timeline... dkf Apr 2012 #33

Here is a nice chart of the DOW from 1971 to March 2012. JoePhilly Apr 2012 #35

Goodness he is the NYT business columnist! dkf Apr 2012 #43

OMG ... he was a NYT Business Columnist!!! And Jim Cramer is on CNBC ... JoePhilly Apr 2012 #59

I suspect he, like so many others (myself included to an extent), caught tech fever in coalition_unwilling Apr 2012 #44

That's a good idea, let's reread it. A Simple Game Apr 2012 #50

I never said 401ks should replace Pensions. JoePhilly Apr 2012 #57

There's a wonderful comment from a "Paul Gallager" of coalition_unwilling Apr 2012 #32

Don't blow your retirement savings on home improvements Nye Bevan Apr 2012 #34

+100 ... and I'll add. JoePhilly Apr 2012 #37

I remember telling a friend of mine that come 2011 when the boomers tsuki Apr 2012 #38

Where's the fucking money, shit head? deutsey Apr 2012 #39

He spent it on home improvements. Nye Bevan Apr 2012 #40

Life do have a way of happening, don't it? gratuitous Apr 2012 #42

I hope you will consider fashioning this into an OP. It's really powerful stuff - I will coalition_unwilling Apr 2012 #45

Sorry to hear that he suffered at the hands of the problem. raouldukelives Apr 2012 #46

The 401k was NEVER intended to be the basis of a retirement system Sen. Walter Sobchak Apr 2012 #47

You are correct NNN0LHI Apr 2012 #48

But there were people, such as my father, who had no pension and had to rely on something CTyankee Apr 2012 #62

Yep..Pension + SS + 401-k = security SoCalDem Apr 2012 #53

Looks to me like somebody needs to man up and take responsibility for his choices! hatrack Apr 2012 #52

Unfortunatetly it is also a position defended very vigorously on this site (nt) varelse Apr 2012 #55

Uh, yeah Aerows Apr 2012 #58

he needs another book.. how i fucked up. nt seabeyond Apr 2012 #60

I would call that poetic justice. nt TBF Apr 2012 #61

What has 4 letters begins with F ends with K and means to screw employees? -nt cprompt Apr 2012 #63

This guy is a dumbass. I don't buy the story at all.... cbdo2007 Apr 2012 #64