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JeffHead

(1,186 posts)

44. The Personal Finance Industry Scam (with Helaine Olen)

Sun Feb 24, 2013, 11:11 AM

Feb 2013

Pound Foolish, author Helaine Olen explained her background as a personal finance writer, how the personal finance industry got started, the story of 401ks, the problem with Suzy Orman, how the financial services industry turns what are political problems into a personal problems, the genius of Occupy, the urgent need to regulate and the financial services industry..

It's all a scam and they are bleeding us dry.

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Let me explain to you what happened to pensions [View all] 1-Old-Man Feb 2013 OP

Kicking for later Hassin Bin Sober Feb 2013 #1

I would love to see a two tier Social security system - hedgehog Feb 2013 #2

You got it already. It's called an IRA. rgbecker Feb 2013 #5

It's gone up to $5500 a year; $6500 if you are over 50 OKNancy Feb 2013 #13

There is also the 401k and most employers match a certain percentage of it. n/t doc03 Feb 2013 #29

Exactly brush Feb 2013 #48

I put my 401k into T.Rowe Price Retirement 2010 Fund and it has done doc03 Feb 2013 #56

My job had a 403-B retirement plan that was an annuity...with AIG! dixiegrrrrl Feb 2013 #11

Your experience shows what is wrong with the 401K program - hedgehog Feb 2013 #37

Yes, you are correct. dixiegrrrrl Feb 2013 #49

Excellent explanation! Sekhmets Daughter Feb 2013 #3

Thank you for putting it simply. What are people to do with the retirement money. Where southernyankeebelle Feb 2013 #4

Not just most of us ordinary people who don't know how to invest properly. Curmudgeoness Feb 2013 #19

That's the truth. It scares me for my son and his child for the future. I'm old now but southernyankeebelle Feb 2013 #26

My father in law took $300,000 in 1990 and tripled it before he died last year mountain grammy Feb 2013 #30

If you spend most of your waking hours studying Curmudgeoness Feb 2013 #57

I pay a fee every two weeks for adding money to my 401K jumptheshadow Feb 2013 #6

Citibank started charging me $50 a year tblue Feb 2013 #8

I switched to a small local bank thats been in town a very long time. No BS, great people. xtraxritical Feb 2013 #18

why not reduce the # of deposits & pay fewer fees? HiPointDem Feb 2013 #35

Because it's a 401k, not an IRA. jeff47 Feb 2013 #53

If not for my dad's 2 pensions tblue Feb 2013 #7

Company pension funds were not associated with specific employees FarCenter Feb 2013 #9

Depends, there were many ways they were calculated and vesting sometimes came very early 1-Old-Man Feb 2013 #10

This is important, and something that isn't well understood these days. SheilaT Feb 2013 #20

I work for a county government and still have a defined upaloopa Feb 2013 #12

Same here. secondvariety Feb 2013 #36

same thing has happened to my company trekbiker Feb 2013 #64

I could have saved you all that trouble in three words. lonestarnot Feb 2013 #14

401k are purely a wall street protection scam. WHICH has been turned into a fucking casino. pansypoo53219 Feb 2013 #15

The danger of the 401K socialindependocrat Feb 2013 #16

Thank goodness for the New York State Teachers' Retirement System gadjitfreek Feb 2013 #17

You forget an important point OutNow Feb 2013 #21

>There are two important lessons here< Leaving slavery and that labor issue out of the discussion, jtuck004 Feb 2013 #38

+ 1,000,000,000,000 love_katz Feb 2013 #68

Unlike SS, workers can take $$ out of 401ks & IRAs, it is a big policy mistake. CarmanK Feb 2013 #22

These plans all started with the head honchos Curmudgeoness Feb 2013 #23

Go with Vanguard adieu Feb 2013 #24

k&r ! . . .n/t annabanana Feb 2013 #25

You, sir, are a true revolutionary. Thank you! nt patrice Feb 2013 #27

K&R Bookmarked to send to my thirty somethings! Thanks. nt snappyturtle Feb 2013 #28

A "defined contribution" pension isn't a pension plan at all. It's a savings account. reformist2 Feb 2013 #31

Actually, according to pension law, it is. It's a defined contribution pension. nt antigop Feb 2013 #71

I really don't care about pension law. I'm talking about common sense. reformist2 Feb 2013 #77

well...it makes a difference when you are trying to find out what your rights are. You have to look antigop Feb 2013 #78

The important distinction is that with a pension... maggiesfarmer Feb 2013 #32

It is most definitely fair to criticize them. You are suggesting that it is fine for them to use you jtuck004 Feb 2013 #40

Defined benefit is risky for the employee too laundry_queen Feb 2013 #46

+1 uponit7771 Feb 2013 #33

In Wisconsin they are selling this as a contribution package and not as a benefits package... midnight Feb 2013 #34

K & R. Thank you. n/t jtuck004 Feb 2013 #39

People who change jobs frequently are generally better off with a 401k than a traditional pension. Nye Bevan Feb 2013 #41

I like the idea of a worker protection agency, but obxhead Feb 2013 #42

Why not simply tax corporations that don't provide pensions to establish a national pension fund? leveymg Feb 2013 #43

The Personal Finance Industry Scam (with Helaine Olen) JeffHead Feb 2013 #44

sorry couldn't disagree more. grantcart Feb 2013 #45

Stop propagating the myth that defined benefit pensions are not portable antigop Feb 2013 #50

You obviously don't understand portability. grantcart Feb 2013 #61

Stop propagating the myth that defined benefit pensions are not portable antigop Feb 2013 #69

Sorry, but you're quite wrong about portability jeff47 Feb 2013 #54

That's not portability and you didn't take you pension with you. grantcart Feb 2013 #58

It's called the PBGC. nt antigop Feb 2013 #70

Because the PBGC doesn't exist. jeff47 Feb 2013 #79

My state university pension is portable. Reciprocal agreements with other states are also common. Gidney N Cloyd Feb 2013 #60

Right. and Federal government pensions are portable. If you move from the Post Office to grantcart Feb 2013 #62

Think again..... Purplehazed Feb 2013 #47

WSJ: Pensions for executives on the rise antigop Feb 2013 #51

Traditional Pensions are Casualties of a Retirement Heist antigop Feb 2013 #52

You left out another major rip-off that happened... on point Feb 2013 #55

Thank you very much for this addition. 1-Old-Man Feb 2013 #75

The last place I worked, CrispyQ Feb 2013 #59

The difference between now and then is not pensions Cary Feb 2013 #63

When are we going to fight back? alfredo Feb 2013 #65

K&R Sherman A1 Feb 2013 #66

The company I work used to give employees an annual Value Added Statement Hiski Feb 2013 #67

All that is true but employer based pensions won't work anymore SmileyRose Feb 2013 #72

What happened to pensions Mickey Disme Feb 2013 #73

K & R !!! WillyT Feb 2013 #74

REQUIRE A MINIMUM PENSION CONTRIBUTION Mickey Disme Feb 2013 #76