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If government hadn't created the 401(k), you'd likely have nothing.

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ghost of olddude55

In Reply to: RE: Government is the only entity that can. posted by srdavis2000 on July 17, 2021 at 10:10:22

If government behaved the way it did pre-New Deal, you'd have likely died in your 40s and penniless.
Are your going to try to tell me the value of your retirement account didn't go down after the 2008 crash? If it's recovered its full value and more since then, it's because of G-O-V-E-R-N-M-E-N-T. The investment banks that tanked the economy would have simply taken your money and left you with nothing.
My parents both collected Social Security and it was never reduced. I don't know of anybody who ever had their Social Security reduced.
Private sector employers, on the other hand, renege on pension guarantees all the time.
The truth is that you owner of your own retirement, are every bit as dependent on government as me, pensioner and SS recipient. We both need government to protect our existences. The difference between us that I'm honest about it and feel no guilt about it.
BTW, those UC benefits? They exist as an economic stabilizer. They pay to workers so that workers can continue to buy things and keep other people--who think they built everything themselves--from going under.
And BTW II--you want to keep markets fat and happy, then you better keep SS recipients happy, too. Because without our spending power, you ain't got much of an economy left.

The problem is not that there is evil in the world, the problem is that there is good. Because otherwise, who would care?

Edits: 07/17/21 07/17/21 07/17/21

Follow Ups:

+1 Private sector employers...renege on pension guarantees all the time. - Jay Buridan 16:46:48 07/17/21 (0)
And the government then makes good on the broken promises.

"Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people. "
― W.C. Fields
RE: If government hadn't created the 401(k), you'd likely have nothing. - srdavis2000 10:45:35 07/17/21 (3)
SS gets reduced when you die. If you single, it goes to nothing. If you are married, it gets reduced to half and goes to the wife or under aged kids. If you die and leave cash in the bank or an account, the government doesn't come in and scoop all or half of it. It all goes to the wife.
- I'll be dead, so why do I care? - ghost of olddude55 11:13:25 07/17/21 (2)
  I have no control over anything that happens after I'm dead. My stepfather thought the same way you do, planned meticulously for my mom after he died and it all went to shit anyway. The investments ended up being worthless.
  My wife gets her own SS plus my survivor benefit and her pension and my survivor benefit from my pension and my life insurance and the money we have in the bank. And she won't have me blowing dough on LPs and model cars. She'll be just fine.
  OTOH, if government hadn't created your retirement plan, where would you be? If government didn't insure your deposits, you couldn't even trust your own money. You think a savings account would be safe if there were no deposit insurance? Take a look at what happened before FDR took office.
  If the Bush and Obama Administrations and the Federal Reserve hadn't bailed out Wall Street after 2008, where would your retirement fund be?
  What I'm selling and you're not getting is, you think you depend on yourself but you're just as dependent on government as I am. As we all are.
  Even Jeff Bezos wouldn't have made his money if the government hadn't created the internet.
  
  The problem is not that there is evil in the world, the problem is that there is good. Because otherwise, who would care?
  - RE: I'll be dead, so why do I care? - srdavis2000 11:39:08 07/17/21 (0)
    I understand the government provides services, and we pay taxes for those services. The rest is up to us. I'm good with that. You never hear me complaining.
  - RE: I'll be dead, so why do I care? - tweaker456 11:32:38 07/17/21 (0)
    FDR was a commie and Bezos has a giant pair (of boot straps) to pull on. Get with the program ghostie.
    
    "The loaded carry does more to expand athletic qualities than any other single thing I've attempted in my career as a coach and athlete. And I do not say that lightly." Dan John

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