The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The median 401(k) balance for those aged 65 and older is around **$95,000** (which means 50% of people have even less than that). Use a standard 5% withdrawal rate and…. well…. that isn’t a hell of a lot of money. Obviously, there are a few 401K millionaires, but they are a tiny, tiny, tiny outlier. Now do some math for an old style public or private pension…. losing those was highway robbery for most.
thehourglasses on
Friendly reminder that about 40% of US stock market capitalization is tied up in 401Ks.
ThisGuy-NotThatGuy on
What “other options?”
Noeyiax on
I can’t even contribute to that… Busy living my best life, well I try to hahaha 😱
we make money, to spend it on things we need and enjoy. Hoarding is cancer
But yes, you can save and invest or whatever, but no one knows when your last day will be… More or less of 50% of a generation die young, let that sink in
jh937hfiu3hrhv9 on
Consistent contributions keep employees buying high so traders can skim of the top leaving you to start over while inflation kills you with a thousand cuts. It’s the full faith wall street has your back investment strategy.
LockNo2943 on
Yah, fund fees can pretty much just get rid of any profits you might make and I’m not sure if most 401k’s let you just buy index funds.
RockieK on
Yeah, thanks a lot fuckface. This shit took over pensions just as my generation became of working age.
ElectricRing on
Every employer I have ever worked for has a 401k match. Are there fees? Yup. The worst was way back in the day when you had limited high expense ratio funds. However, when your employer is matching up to 3%, you immediately get a 100% return on the money you contribute, so even factoring in fees, it’s hard to see how I’m getting ripped off.
It’s gotten better with low cost index ETFs because you can just invest in the market for a relatively small overhead. You add in market returns and the tax benefits and it’s hard to see it as a rip off.
Yes we lost pensions, but if the company goes under or mismanages the pension fund, the government has to step in or in some cases, you don’t get your full pension.
Under a 401k system, you are far more diversified in that your entire retirement isn’t dependent on one company managing the pension fund.
Yes, I know companies pay a big chunk of change to have finance companies manage the 401k, and they skim off the top a lot of time. My current 401k does this. It sucks.
My biggest issue with the 401k system is that it is often locked in the employer plan until you don’t work for them, and you have zero say in what happens.
The other big issue is more structural, forcing everyone to manage their own investments competently, though a large chuck of that can be addressed by not trying to beat the market. Though you still have to have some basic investing knowledge.
8 Comments
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The median 401(k) balance for those aged 65 and older is around **$95,000** (which means 50% of people have even less than that). Use a standard 5% withdrawal rate and…. well…. that isn’t a hell of a lot of money. Obviously, there are a few 401K millionaires, but they are a tiny, tiny, tiny outlier. Now do some math for an old style public or private pension…. losing those was highway robbery for most.
Friendly reminder that about 40% of US stock market capitalization is tied up in 401Ks.
What “other options?”
I can’t even contribute to that… Busy living my best life, well I try to hahaha 😱
we make money, to spend it on things we need and enjoy. Hoarding is cancer
But yes, you can save and invest or whatever, but no one knows when your last day will be… More or less of 50% of a generation die young, let that sink in
Consistent contributions keep employees buying high so traders can skim of the top leaving you to start over while inflation kills you with a thousand cuts. It’s the full faith wall street has your back investment strategy.
Yah, fund fees can pretty much just get rid of any profits you might make and I’m not sure if most 401k’s let you just buy index funds.
Yeah, thanks a lot fuckface. This shit took over pensions just as my generation became of working age.
Every employer I have ever worked for has a 401k match. Are there fees? Yup. The worst was way back in the day when you had limited high expense ratio funds. However, when your employer is matching up to 3%, you immediately get a 100% return on the money you contribute, so even factoring in fees, it’s hard to see how I’m getting ripped off.
It’s gotten better with low cost index ETFs because you can just invest in the market for a relatively small overhead. You add in market returns and the tax benefits and it’s hard to see it as a rip off.
Yes we lost pensions, but if the company goes under or mismanages the pension fund, the government has to step in or in some cases, you don’t get your full pension.
Under a 401k system, you are far more diversified in that your entire retirement isn’t dependent on one company managing the pension fund.
Yes, I know companies pay a big chunk of change to have finance companies manage the 401k, and they skim off the top a lot of time. My current 401k does this. It sucks.
My biggest issue with the 401k system is that it is often locked in the employer plan until you don’t work for them, and you have zero say in what happens.
The other big issue is more structural, forcing everyone to manage their own investments competently, though a large chuck of that can be addressed by not trying to beat the market. Though you still have to have some basic investing knowledge.