No Golden Parachutes


by Ernie Fitzpatrick - Date: 2008-10-07 - Word Count: 440 Share This!

Tell me again why we are bailing out Wall Street? Why a $700 billion bailout for financial and major corporations? Why $25 billion in loans for the automobile industry? And just who do you think will come to the rescuse of Joe six-pack, or the middle America "working Sam" who has lost their retirement account? Who's going to come to the rescue of American retirement funds that have lost TWO TRILLION DOLLARS? No one!

When we middle America individuals get our 3Q retirement accounts, who is going to reimburse us?

Americans' retirement plans have lost as much as $2 trillion in the past 15 months, Congress' top budget analyst estimated Tuesday. The upheaval that has engulfed the financial industry and sent the stock market plummeting is devastating workers' savings, forcing people to hold off on major purchases and consider delaying their retirement, said Peter Orszag, the head of the Congressional Budget Office.

As Congress investigates the causes and effects of the financial meltdown, the House Education and Labor Committee was hearing from retirement savings and budget analysts on how the housing, credit and other financial troubles have battered pensions and other retirement funds, which are among the most common forms of savings in the United States.

The causes of the meltdown?

GREED! And we have ALL been guilty of wanting more than we need, but only the top players, those in power, those with financial clout will be able to get help. You know that. It's how the capitalistic system works. Listening to Sean Hannity (the Great American) today, he says that we need to keep the rich people rich because only rich people can give poor people jobs.

"Unlike Wall Street executives, America's families don't have a golden parachute to fall back on," said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the panel chairman. "It's clear that their retirement security may be one of the greatest casualties of this financial crisis." More than half the people surveyed in an Associated Press poll taken Sept. 27-30 said they worry they will have to work longer because the value of their retirement savings has declined.

Like a rock!

Orszag indicated the fear is well-founded. Public and private pension funds and employees' private retirement savings accounts-like 401(k)'s-have lost some 20 percent overall since mid-2007, he estimated. Private retirement plans may have suffered slightly more because those holdings are more heavily skewed toward stocks, Orszag added. "Some people will delay their retirement. In particular, those on the verge of retirement may decide they can no longer afford to retire and will continue working," Orszag said.

Sicne there are no "golden parachutes", how about some "boot straps"?


Related Tags: 401k, retirement funds, sean hannity, $700 billion bailout, no golden parachutes, boot straps, the great american

As a spiritual-futurist, I interpret current events in light of possible macro-universal forces at play leading up to 2012, but not limited to it.

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