Is your 401K money really going to be there when people start retiring?

Question

I'm looking at what is happening to the banking infrastructure in this country and how we hear at the very last minute that some of the largest institutions in the country have no money and are in danger of crashing and need government bailouts. I'm thinking, are we sooo sure that 401K fund is going to be there when we retire? Will we be blind-sided once again and told...sorry, we don't have the funds to back those retirement accounts and we lied on our statements the last 10 years about how much money the funds were actually worth.

Answer 1

It may be there but the will question is what will it be worth.

With the stagnant markets and falling dollar, the value of our 401(k)'s are dropping like a rock.

(Market down 1% over Bush's 7 1/2 years, US dollar down 50% against the Euro)

Welcome to Bush's America

Answer 2

Yep that's how it's going to be . Take all your money out and put it in gold and silver coins . Some in food and protection .

Answer 3

yes it will be there and yes it will be accurate.  No they won't lie to you.  ERISA is one of the most strict set of laws around.  And the kicker with ERISA is that there is personal liability that is  not shielded by the corporate shield.  The question should be...will the 401k be worth anything when we retire?  

Many years ago people started complaining about the relatively low return in defined benefit plans in relation to what they THOUGHT they could earn in the market.  Corporations seized upon this thought and started implementing 401ks and terminating their pensions.  Now that the market has been down significantly for an extended period I would have to imagine that many are questioning the wisdom of that choice.

Answer 4

Any investments in anything other than land, food, gold, silver and guns to defend it all is a gamble! Having said that, if you take all your money out of the bank, out of your retirement plans etc., that would be a bigger gamble. Perhaps you've heard the old adage: Don't keep all your eggs in one basket!

Answer 5

If you have a "qualified" plan (your HR department can tell you)... then YES.  Your money WILL be there when you retire.

If you have an unqualified plan...  hope they don't borrow against it the way the government borrows from Social Security.