Why we're in this mess or the end of capitalism

[fabsroman]

No, I meant white collar. It was late, I am sick, and I have a ton of work and a growing A/R, besides, isn't white a color? LOL

Tall Shadow,

I agree with you completely. They never should have given people tax breaks to save for retirement. That should have been something people did on their own. There are also a million other problems, and it looks like this $700 billion bailout isn't even being used as legislators thought it would be by the banks it is being given to. Supposedly, it was thought that the banks would be more likely to lend money once they received this money, but from what I have been reading, they have chosen to sit on the cash and de-lever their positions with this cash. So, it isn't pumping any additional capital into the market at all for those that are looking for loans. We should have let them all fail instead of letting the government try to save them.

As far as moving retirement funds out of an employer's account, that is kind of hard to do as long as you are employed by that employer. A lot of these retirement accounts do not allow them to be transfered or withdrawn from as long as you work for the employer. Plus, with the employer match of up to 5% of salary, it is kind of hard not to participate in them even if the investments are risky. What is tough is relying on those investments as the employee gets closer and closer to retirement. Who knows, maybe employers will fix this problem with the retirement plans that they offer.