dmarc117 Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 The savers are now financing the $700 billion bailout along with those who spent -- and may be forced to foot an even bigger bill as the baby boomers retire, says Wilcox, a former economist for the Securities and Exchange Commission who blogs here. "If lots of people don't save and end up upon retirement being poorer than they would like to be, there will certainly be pressure to impose taxes on working people to more richly fund the retirements of individuals who have not saved," he says. "You'll see political pressure for wealth transfer -- and if you have saved responsibly, you'll be paying for people who have not." Wilcox argues that savers who are dutifully contributing to their 401(k) plans face a real risk, because they won't pay taxes on the money until they retire. "It's easy for me to imagine 10 years from now a political candidate saying, ‘We have all these people with $3 million in their 401(k) plans and we need to impose taxes on those people and shore up Social Security for people who didn't have access to these 401(k)s,'" he says. "It's a big fat target for politicians." (And another disincentive to saving.) http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/moneyhappy/113568 discuss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 But people already do pay taxes on their 401Ks when they pull the money out. I don't understand the difference. Regardless of how save, you can't avoid taxes at some point. Either you pay up front with a Roth or pay at the back end with 401K or traditional IRA. I'm not sure what is being implied here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmarc117 Posted October 15, 2008 Author Share Posted October 15, 2008 But people already do pay taxes on their 401Ks when they pull the money out. I don't understand the difference. Regardless of how save, you can't avoid taxes at some point. Either you pay up front with a Roth or pay at the back end with 401K or traditional IRA. I'm not sure what is being implied here. i think he is talking about an even bigger tax on accounts that are or above a certain number. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muck Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 (edited) I don't know how to say it any differently than the tax code can (and will be) re-written to benefit those in power (ostensibly for the benefit of those living) at the time of the revision, regardless of what happened or was promised prior. Edited October 15, 2008 by muck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeteebee Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 That's the main reason I switched my contributions into a Roth 401k. I'd rather pay taxes today than those in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budlitebrad Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 "It's not that I want to punish your success," Obama told him. "I want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance for success, too. ... I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmarc117 Posted October 15, 2008 Author Share Posted October 15, 2008 sweet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimC Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 "It's not that I want to punish your success," Obama told him. "I want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance for success, too. ... I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonorator Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Obama frequently brought back discussion to the middle class, saying it would be his duty as president to ensure the public knew the burden of the economic crisis was being shared by all Americans, including the wealthy. "It's tough to ask a teacher who's making $30,000 or $35,000 a year to tighten her belt when people who are making much more than her are living pretty high on the hog," he said. "I think as president we set a tone that all of us are going to contribute." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewer Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 If you'd rather, we can eliminate the tax benefits from 401ks and IRAs, as well as the mortgage interest tax break. That should provide a boost in tax revenue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmarc117 Posted October 15, 2008 Author Share Posted October 15, 2008 consumption tax please Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pope Flick Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 (edited) If you're a Baby Boomer you should be ashamed of your generation. You partied in the 70's. Fine. You spent MY money in the 80's. You're spending your grandchildren's money now. And you'll want your Great Granchildren's money when your in your 80s because you didn't save the money you took from the other two generations nor save any while partying in the 70s. Enough is enough. And I'm serious. Edited October 15, 2008 by Pope Flick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonorator Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 If you're a Baby Boomer you should be ashamed of your generation. You partied in the 70's. Fine. You spent MY money in the 80's. You're spending your grandchildren's money now. And you'll want your Great Granchildren's money when your in your 80s because you didn't save the money you took from the other two generations nor save any while partying in the 70s. Enough is enough. And I'm serious. has obama or mccain talked at all about reducing our national debt? currently 11 trillion and counting ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Beatings Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Get your money off the grid people... the vultures can't take what they can't find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muck Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 (edited) Get your money off the grid people... the vultures can't take what they can't find. Edited October 15, 2008 by muck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 hey I've got a great idea to that end. let's let people take a bunch of money out of their 401k's right now without paying any penalties or taxes. then maybe we can get rid of the 401k tax breaks altogether and give the government control of that too. that should really encourage responsible savings and decrease government dependency! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Irish Doggy Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 hey I've got a great idea to that end. let's let people take a bunch of money out of their 401k's right now without paying any penalties or taxes. then maybe we can get rid of the 401k tax breaks altogether and give the government control of that too. that should really encourage responsible savings and decrease government dependency! The first part, limited to 10K and a short time, I can deal with. The second part sounds like yin to the yang of privatized social security arguments that came up a few years ago. Where is Ann Coulter now? This proposal will go away as soon as the market stabilizes and people hear comments like this from that article: "From where I sit that's just crazy," said John Belluardo, president of Stewardship Financial Services Inc. in Tarrytown, N.Y. "A lot of people contribute to their 401(k)s because of the match of the em-ployer," he said.Mr. Belluardo's firm does not manage assets directly. Higher-income employers provide matching funds to employee plans so that they can qualify for tax benefits for their own defined contribution plans, he said. If the tax deferral goes away, the employers have no reason to do the matches, which primarily help people in the lower income brackets," Mr. Belluardo said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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