On 18/04/2010 12:29 PM, Peter (Yes, that one) wrote:
In ,
says...

On Sun, 18 Apr 2010 11:24:55 -0500, "Peter (Yes, that one)"
wrote:


It seems Mr. Bpuharic would be pleased if Geithner and Summers would
pump up his 401k to the level it was before the crash.
And ignore that that reliance on Wall Street is what led to our current
economic ills.

uh no. i'm not rush limballs. im not a right wing devotee of the 'free
market'. you have me confused with someone else or, more likely, you
dont know what part the 'chicago school' played in the meltdown

Yes, I know it well enough.
Please don't misunderstand. I actually am in agreement with many of
your views.
I too am not happy with the 401k system, as it designed to benefit Wall
Street, not retirees. I see it as a form of socialism for the wealthy.
But I choose not to benefit from it to any great degree as a matter of
principle. Yes, I contribute to the extent of matching contributions,
but my contributions all go into a very low return money market fund.
My salary does not justify putting more in for the tax savings.
Since I don't feed the beast we both seem to abhor, I am not concerned
with it.
That is the only issue of real disagreement I have with you.
Your 401k protestations calls to mind "I have seen the enemy, and he is
us."
I am a frugal person, and avoid debt and save what I can.
I am not expecting a rich environment in retirement, but nor have I in
my working life.
Selling shoes in a way that keeps my customers happy is fine with me.


i favor the french approach. ban CDO's and CDS. tie them to assets.
make the banks keep higher assets to cover losses. divorce proprietary
trading from banking.

of course, the right wing opposes this. a senator from new hampshire
said last week he's worried that CDO's would go to singapore if the US
regulated them

so you support his view of reality?


Of course not.

Though Mr. Bpuharic has made some points I agree with, his harping on
his 401k is not one of them.
Most of my customers who mention their 401k are happy that they have
recovered as much as they have.

betcha few of them are close to retirement

Actually, many are. It is my understanding that those who consistently
contributed to 401k equity funds starting +20 years ago are well ahead
of the game even now.

Quite true. When I add up over the years my contributions, it is much
less that current day value. And far surpasses bank saving interest rates.

I suspect they held on during the recent dive, and didn't move their
equity investments into other funds.

One tax savvy trick for cash accounts is to churn you funds at the
bottom getting tax loses on the books. Leaving latitude on future gains
without the taxes.

But I never get into that sort of detail with a customer.
Out of curiosity, and I don't mean to pry, doesn't your 401k show a
hefty profit over contributions?
I think much of it is a matter of timing, and those who entered in more
recently got "screwed." Does Ponzi come to mind here?

Part of this is their own fault as it takes time, dicipline, patience
and realistic calls to get this right. Emotional basket cases like
bpubaric and de-plume should not consider trading stock.

Does not hurt to leave cash in cash for some time waiting for a good
opportunity. I have at times let cash say idle cash for years as I
didn't feel comfortable about commiting it.

So Jan-Fed of 2009 was a hay day. And a good percentage is back in cash
waiting for the next knee jerk or for interest rates to climb.

--
Time to ask, is our government serving us or are we serving the government?