9 thoughts on “California was about to establish a state-sponsored IRA-style retirement system for all workers. But don’t worry: at the behest of its bosses on Wall Street, Congress is strangling it in its crib.”
401(k)s and IRAs are a pretty poor excuse for a national pension system such as Social Security could be, but they would've been better than nothing.
I wouldn't have sought out an IRA or 401k on my own. The only reason I had any nest-egg is because my employer offered them. They didn't contribute, but they offered me an opportunity to set aside a percentage of my income, tax deferred. Wall Street managed to eat half of it anyway, and taxes on the back end took 28% of what was left, but it looked good on paper for a brief, shining moment.
Yes, CalPERS. I was in a Vanguard fund until 2007, when it began dropping precipitously. I switched to a money market, where I was actually "earning" negative interest, but it was a slower bleed than the mutual fund. Then they retired me, and my chances to remedy my situation dried up, as retirees can no longer contribute. I took what was left and invested it in my house in CA. Not even a big enough down payment to avoid PMI. Oh well, at least I avoided taxes on it for the time I was working.
That stinks. I ran the retirement plan for my company for 11 years and learned that, even for somebody who's interested in the subject, it's a bewildering jungle of rules, laws, sales pitches and high fees. Moved everything to Vanguard in '06 and that made good investments available to everybody, but many were bewildered by the choices and others just didn't care.
Retirement is like health care finance: it works best when government does it.
401(k)s and IRAs are a pretty poor excuse for a national pension system such as Social Security could be, but they would've been better than nothing.
"States rights, except when they want to do something we don't"
So, what's the difference between the parties? That the Dems are mildly self aware?
I wouldn't have sought out an IRA or 401k on my own. The only reason I had any nest-egg is because my employer offered them. They didn't contribute, but they offered me an opportunity to set aside a percentage of my income, tax deferred. Wall Street managed to eat half of it anyway, and taxes on the back end took 28% of what was left, but it looked good on paper for a brief, shining moment.
maybe we should privatize their private parts and see how they like that
Was that Caltrans? I'd have imagined that as a state agency they'd have a pretty good program, maybe as part of CALPERS.
Yes, CalPERS. I was in a Vanguard fund until 2007, when it began dropping precipitously. I switched to a money market, where I was actually "earning" negative interest, but it was a slower bleed than the mutual fund. Then they retired me, and my chances to remedy my situation dried up, as retirees can no longer contribute. I took what was left and invested it in my house in CA. Not even a big enough down payment to avoid PMI. Oh well, at least I avoided taxes on it for the time I was working.
That stinks. I ran the retirement plan for my company for 11 years and learned that, even for somebody who's interested in the subject, it's a bewildering jungle of rules, laws, sales pitches and high fees. Moved everything to Vanguard in '06 and that made good investments available to everybody, but many were bewildered by the choices and others just didn't care.
Retirement is like health care finance: it works best when government does it.
I lost about a year's gross income over the 10 years I was enrolled. It hurt, but others got hurt a lot worse. I mean, look at Bernie Madoff!
God damn it, I was going to participate in this. Fuck.