52 replies to this topic

[Brentastic]

"The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable, and so, if he is romantic, he tries to change it. And even if he is not romantic personally he is very apt to spread discontent among those who are."

[Ice1]

wiegie, on 17 June 2012 - 04:51 PM, said:

Amusingly enough, that is pretty much exactly what Romney says he would do with the government's holdings on GM stock if he becomes president.

As for AIG, the government pretty much had to bail it out (which really means that we bailed out AIG's counterparties).  The bailouts could have also been structured differently to make them less of a giveaway to the financial sector.  There are ways that we could limit the need for such bailouts in the future, but for reasons that still baffle me, the financial sector has been able to somehow convince (read: snowjob) enough of the public so as to make reasonable government regulations on the financial system politically unpopular.

While it pains to me say, I agree the government had to bail out AIG. How else could they give billions of tax payer dollars to overseas concerns and a 100 plus million in bonuses?

They could have structured it differently so the company had to share in some of the pain. Not sure I agree with the government regulation comment or even the word reasonable given the government was a primary contributing factor due to poor policy decisions dating back to the 70's but that is another story.

Edited by Ice1, 19 June 2012 - 11:32 AM.

[Joessfl]

"I can choose option a, b, c or d or allocate percentages.  "

You only have four funds where you can put your money?  Or are these four options sort of like Risky, Moderate risk, conservative, ulra conservative?

Does alocate percentages mean you can allocate 50% of your contribution to a, 25% to option b, etc.  or can you allocate outside of said options?  

In this day and age,  if you only have 4 options, that does stink.

Good idea about the IRAs, I never gave them a look.  So now I have some reading to do.  I have seen others contributing the least amount possible to a 401K maximize the company match, then investing the remaining $$$ into stocks by yourself.   There are plenty of stocks out there with growth, yield, and look into DRIP for those dividends.  Keep a good diversity across the sectors as well.   Hardly a set it and forget it solution, but little costs (other than time to research and read).  

But if  if option a,b,c or d dont work, find something you can believe in, take control and do it.  I think anyone here would agree.