White workers have nearly five times as much wealth in retirement accounts as black workers

[cascadiance]

76. Many of us who are unemployed now because of "guest worker" contractization of our work force

... with H-1B programs, etc. have our savings wiped out now, and are having to dip in to early distributions of retirement programs such as H-1B and 401ks. And in addition to paying tax now on that money you're withdrawing, most are now subject to 10% penalty on early withdrawals from their plans if they aren't over 60 yet.

There are loopholes to avoid these extra penalties, but most don't know about them and it is too late until it hits them in the face. And with contract jobs now being the norm, it is hard to get a 401k plan to roll over your balance in to any more so that you can do an early withdrawal from a plan administered by an employer you worked at where you turned 55 at. If you were laid off before that time, even if you are over 55 now, you don't get that benefit any more, and it often times is hard to get that newer 401k plan in a lot of contract jobs you MIGHT find to give you that freedom.

IRAs have similar problems, and you should be prepared to make sure that you are unemployed for at least 12 CONSECUTIVE weeks and then be able to write off your health insurance payment expenses (COBRA, etc.) against that 10% penalty.

White folk might have started with more 401k plans, but that is decreasing a lot as many of them are forced to cash these plans out now in this economy, and lose a lot more than if they'd never even had that 401k to begin with, if they'd just been taxed once on income earlier and not taxed on the income tax as well as the 10% penalty now.,