Congress to confiscate 401k’s and IRA’s? Good!
Chicago, IL
By A.B. Dada
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Some blogs and press accounts are mentioning the idea of a confiscation of IRA and 401k accounts is in consideration by Congress, as a way to balance equity. Â I’m in full support of such a measure.
As someone who is self-employed, I would not utilize these features because they are more of the same: government offers “tax advantages” to saving for retirement a certain way, and the masses jump into it. Â Here’s a reminder: if government tries to do something, the opposite happens. Â Government tries to stop certain drug use, and its use goes up, along with the price. Â Government tries to stop prostitution, and Craigslist booms with business. Â Government tries to get people to save in certain programs, and the values of these programs rarely go up against the fall in value of money (“inflation”).
For those who put their money unwisely in these “group investment” accounts that are managed by others (for their profit), you’ve always been making a terrible decision. Â Just because your employer offers a few dollars matches doesn’t mean your money is making you money, in the short run or in the long run. Â Investors should invest where they can monitor their investments. Â Dropping money into a pool where you have little control and even less information will lead to a loss of value anyway. Â It won’t matter if Congress decides to take “your money” and stick it into a guaranteed account. Â You’re losing out anyway.
In addition to the negative growth that 401k’s and IRA’s tend to have once real inflation losses are factored in, most of these group investment schemes are focused on the W2 worker: the worker paying a ridiculous amount of double taxes, the person who has all their employment eggs in one employer basket, the employee who can’t even write off basic business tools against their income. Â A 1099 worker has something to do with their annual profits: invest it in themselves. Â Hire an assistant or co-worker. Â Buy machinery. Â Take over a small competitor. Â Expand, grow, profit.
Here’s just another lesson to those who still think that currency printed with a government logo is owned by anyone but the one printing the currency. Â It isn’t yours, it was never yours, and it will never be yours. Â Why do you stick to old myths?
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Confiscate peoples savings, even if they are in tax-deferred accounts, and encouraging it? Now that’s a bit low.
Is it low to support the owner of a property retaking their possession of said property?
If you owned a boat, and you lent that boat to someone, and years later decided you wanted it back, would it be appropriate to just go to that person and say “I’m taking my boat back”? I’d say that’s OK.
You do not own your money. It does not have anything to do with you. Your government owns it. They’re able to create more of it (devaluing your end), they’re able to tax more of what you are in possession of, and if they want, they can just take it all.
So of course I support the true owner of every US dollar to take it back. It’s theirs, not yours.
Myself? I save in real money, one without a government stamp on it.
Not my money? That is the most ignorant statement ever. What would be the difference is Honda, Chrysler, Audi, Mercedes, Saab, GM, and everyother auto manufacture followed that broken logic. Hey, We made those cars and trucks, so now we want them all back. You would say that you “bought” those items and they do belong to you. Otherwise, if chrysler wanted to get out of financial trouble the could just retake their product and make us by a new one. The money is ours in the same principal. We “Bought” it with our time and labor. I do not have a 401k, but if i did i would not want some socialist telling me they were taking it to put it in to a different failing investment pool AKA social security. At least with 401k if you decide you want your money back, you can get it NOW. It might require a penalty. But, you can get it. You guys are the same people who think that me and my co-workers should lose some of my 70k per year to pay for my neighbors medical benefiets. Funny thing about alot of the uninsured…If they are not already on a gov’t program and are actually emplpoyeed, their employers probably offer a insurance program. They just choose to not take it….HOW IS THAT MY PROBLEM? I work hard for my money, wherever I decide to put it it is still “MY” money. If you want to work where the gov’t wants you to, and earn what they allow you to, and live in the type of house they want you to, drive what car the say you can, thats fine….Move to 1930 russia, we see how that worked out. We have seen gov’t try to control people before, Only blue eyed blonde hair people have rights, remember that? Gov’t is only here to protect our people. (Militarily). They are not a business. They do not have the right to make money. I wish someone could show me where in the US Constitution it gives them the right to control my money…..
Come on…you gotta be kidding with this!!! Let the government take your retirement money. What’s next should we have them tell us what jobs we can have or better yet, a government based pay system where salaries are rationed out to everyone like food stamps…this is socialism pure and simple. How well has that worked in USSR, Cuba, Korea, China, anywhere else some government promised to take care of everybody though central management of equity….bullshit. The money is ours, we worked hard for it, it’s ours. Why should I fork over my hard earned retirement money to be “redistributed” to a bunch of other people that didn’t save a penny. How is that fair??? We shouldn’t have to subsidize people who live irresponsibly and squander all their money.
The money is not your money, it is the government’s money. It’s called “fiat” money — backed by nothing but government promises. When money was privately minted (gold, silver, or another asset-back), then it was YOUR money. Now, voters have allowed their governments to print and control the money supply via legal tender laws. It was never your money.
Just as you say the money is not yours, neither is the house, the land it is on, the business you “think” you own, your family, your children, or your pets. None of it belongs to you by the same reasoning that the money doesn’t belong to you. It is all on loan.