PhillyDeals: The 401(k) under fire in Washington | Philadelphia Inquirer | 02/25/2009: "Congress is weighing whether to set up a guaranteed, forced worker-savings program to supplement Social Security.
That's after the value of worker-run personal investment plans - Individual Retirement Accounts and 401(k)-style programs - fell 27 percent, or $2.5 trillion, in less than two years, retired Vanguard Group founder John C. Bogle testified before the U.S. House labor committee yesterday."
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Can the Obama plan revive the U.S. economy?
Can the Obama plan revive the U.S. economy?: "Is President Barack Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan addressing auxiliary problems, significant as they may be, rather than the problem, which is long term recovery of United States industry? A lack of publicized analysis, which inexorably leads to guides of what to do and how to do it, raises doubts and questions. Since President Barack Obama emphasized he is receptive to recommendations to his plan, well, here they are.
Stimulating the economy by government intervention and deficit spending is not a unique change in policy; since the Reagan era, the U.S. economy has depended upon public and private debt for growth and salvation. Government deficits (debt increase of $1 trillion to $9 trillion in 28 years) have financed a great portion of the U.S. economy and credit outstanding ($5 trillion to $50 trillion in 28 years) has financed purchases of industrial products, imported merchandise and a service industry. In 2008, after exhausting credit to all potential debtors who might add purchasing power to an economy in which a significant number of jobs and workers’ wages had been transferred to overseas laborers, the economy hit a barrier - enter the government, too late."
Stimulating the economy by government intervention and deficit spending is not a unique change in policy; since the Reagan era, the U.S. economy has depended upon public and private debt for growth and salvation. Government deficits (debt increase of $1 trillion to $9 trillion in 28 years) have financed a great portion of the U.S. economy and credit outstanding ($5 trillion to $50 trillion in 28 years) has financed purchases of industrial products, imported merchandise and a service industry. In 2008, after exhausting credit to all potential debtors who might add purchasing power to an economy in which a significant number of jobs and workers’ wages had been transferred to overseas laborers, the economy hit a barrier - enter the government, too late."
House Democrats Contemplate Abolishing 401(k) Tax Breaks « One Man’s Thoughts
House Democrats Contemplate Abolishing 401(k) Tax Breaks « One Man’s Thoughts: "Powerful House Democrats are eyeing proposals to overhaul the nation’s $3 trillion 401(k) system, including the elimination of most of the $80 billion in annual tax breaks that 401(k) investors receive.
House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, D-California, and Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Washington, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, are looking at redirecting those tax breaks to a new system of guaranteed retirement accounts to which all workers would be obliged to contribute."
House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, D-California, and Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Washington, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, are looking at redirecting those tax breaks to a new system of guaranteed retirement accounts to which all workers would be obliged to contribute."
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Newsmax.com - Iran's Supreme Leader Personally Ordered Death Squads
Newsmax.com - Iran's Supreme Leader Personally Ordered Death Squads: "An explosive Iranian government dossier reveals that Iran’s most senior official, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, personally ordered the murders of hundreds of opposition activists and intellectuals. In addition, then-President Mohammad Khatami, whom the West considered a moderate, helped cover up the regime’s deadly deeds, according to the documents, which were leaked to a domestic opposition group.
The revelations come as the Obama administration has repeated its calls for “negotiations without preconditions” with the Islamic Republic of Iran leadership, and amid reports that former Defense Secretary William Perry has been discussing security-related issues with senior Iranian officials on Obama’s behalf.
They also come after Khatami stated that he is contemplating another run for president this spring against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Khatami was president for two terms, from 1997-2005. He was elected as a reformer but after a brief period of press freedom, his government shuttered newspapers and spearheaded a crackdown on dissent, including the violent quashing of the student rebellion in July 1999.
Since the revelations of his complicity in the coverup of the killings surfaced in the Persian-language media, Khatami has indicated that he might not become a candidate this year."
The revelations come as the Obama administration has repeated its calls for “negotiations without preconditions” with the Islamic Republic of Iran leadership, and amid reports that former Defense Secretary William Perry has been discussing security-related issues with senior Iranian officials on Obama’s behalf.
They also come after Khatami stated that he is contemplating another run for president this spring against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Khatami was president for two terms, from 1997-2005. He was elected as a reformer but after a brief period of press freedom, his government shuttered newspapers and spearheaded a crackdown on dissent, including the violent quashing of the student rebellion in July 1999.
Since the revelations of his complicity in the coverup of the killings surfaced in the Persian-language media, Khatami has indicated that he might not become a candidate this year."
IRS Set To Probe 401(k) Tax Compliance : Defined Contribution & Savings Plan Alert
IRS Set To Probe 401(k) Tax Compliance : Defined Contribution & Savings Plan Alert: "The Internal Revenue Service will begin questioning plan sponsors next year about their tax compliance, including gathering information about their deferral rates, eligibility standards and their requirements to meet non-discrimination tests. The agency plans to do so via a questionnaire.
This is a first for the agency, which has until now obtained tax information on 401(k) plans through routine audits and its compliance program, the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, both voluntary.
The questionnaire will provide 'a snapshot of the overall health of a 401(k) plan,' Monika Templeman, the agency's director of employee plan examinations, told DCSPA. She declined ..."
This is a first for the agency, which has until now obtained tax information on 401(k) plans through routine audits and its compliance program, the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, both voluntary.
The questionnaire will provide 'a snapshot of the overall health of a 401(k) plan,' Monika Templeman, the agency's director of employee plan examinations, told DCSPA. She declined ..."
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