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Your 401K and IRA: You Don’t Actually Own the Securities in Your Account
American Thinker ^ | 03/15/2024 | Chris Talgo

Posted on 03/15/2024 7:11:57 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

Although it sounds too far-fetched to be true, Americans don’t actually own the stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other assets held in common retirement vehicles such as Roth IRA and 401(k) accounts. In reality, Americans own what are called “security entitlements.”

Back in the old days, before digitalization fundamentally transformed the mechanics of financial transactions, this was not the case. But that was then. This is now.

Most Americans have probably never heard of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), which is “a comprehensive set of laws governing all commercial transactions in the United States.” Even fewer Americans are familiar with Article 8 of the UCC, which “provides a modern legal structure for the system of holding securities through intermediaries.”

In the mid-1990s, Article 8 was revised so that “investment securities can be safely used as collateral” by large financial institutions. Essentially, this modification of an obscure set of laws allowed big banks to use their customers’ securities in investment accounts as collateral in the derivatives market.

Eventually, the big banks began using their customers’ securities as collateral to make money in the developing worldwide derivatives markets. Basically, banks like JP Morgan Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and others pool these assets in places like the Depository Trust Company (DTC), which “is a member of the U.S. Federal Reserve System, a limited-purpose trust company under New York State banking law and a registered clearing agency with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.”

Incredibly, the DTC retains “custody of more than 1.4 million active securities” valued at more than $87 trillion. Despite the fact that most Americans have no idea about the DTC and what it does, it carries immense power and influence throughout the financial world.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Society
KEYWORDS: collateral; ira; retirement; securities
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1 posted on 03/15/2024 7:11:57 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

In 2002, Warren Buffet stated that “derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction, carrying dangers that, while now latent, are potentially lethal… We view them as time bombs, both for the parties that deal in them and the economic system.”

He is not alone in that view. Many other investment gurus, from Carl Icahn to Michael Burry, agree with Buffet.

Today, the worldwide derivatives market has reached the astronomical figure of more than $1 quadrillion.


2 posted on 03/15/2024 7:12:42 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

I read that this morning. Chilling.


3 posted on 03/15/2024 7:14:04 AM PDT by Tell It Right (1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Derivatives is a Jenga Tower made of round blocks................


4 posted on 03/15/2024 7:16:03 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: SeekAndFind

Heh. This is one of the reasons I cashed mine out. It wasn’t really that large, but the cool thing is that though I had to pay a penalty, I did it literally a month before the dot-com bust. If I’d left it in, I’d have lost a lot more. Unless I had never cashed out, of course.😁


5 posted on 03/15/2024 7:20:56 AM PDT by cuban leaf (2024 is going to be one for the history books, like 1939. And 2025 will be more so, like 1940-1945.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Here is another shocking fact....the money you put into your savings account it not really there. And if the bank goes bust...your deposit is a liability and would be among the last items to be paid through bankruptcy.

(Of course the FDIC insures most of deposits...but the point I am trying to make is that most people have little understanding of how little they actually own.)

Its like they say with gold...”if its not in your hand, its not yours!”


6 posted on 03/15/2024 7:21:12 AM PDT by Vermont Lt (Don’t vote for anyone over 70 years old. Get rid of the geriatric politicians.)
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To: SeekAndFind

As long as we’re no longer a republic, we own jack ****.


7 posted on 03/15/2024 7:21:34 AM PDT by mewzilla (Never give up; never surrender!)
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To: SeekAndFind

But, but they are all fiduciaries, so you can trust them completely!


8 posted on 03/15/2024 7:22:08 AM PDT by gloryblaze
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To: SeekAndFind

Derivatives are the reason why crashes are so severe. When the worm turns, it is like a rocket ship, turned downward. The rush to the door is a stampede. And the little guys don’t have anyone holding the door for them.


9 posted on 03/15/2024 7:23:33 AM PDT by Vermont Lt (Don’t vote for anyone over 70 years old. Get rid of the geriatric politicians.)
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To: SeekAndFind

And don’t forget that Federal Legislation was passed and signed into law by Barry the Muslim giving the Federal Government the right to SEIZE those retirement accounts for an emergency banking crisis, which is happening as we speak.


10 posted on 03/15/2024 7:24:45 AM PDT by eyeamok
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To: cuban leaf

“I did it literally a month before the dot-com bust. If I’d left it in, I’d have lost a lot more. Unless I had never cashed out, of course”

If you have been out of the stock market since the dot com bust you have missed out of a lot of growth,


11 posted on 03/15/2024 7:25:03 AM PDT by JSM_Liberty
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To: SeekAndFind

In reality, Americans own what are called “security entitlements.”

~~~

What’s new????

If you live in a state with property taxes, you don’t actually own the title to your home. You’re just renting it from the title granting state, and if you fail to pay your rent, you will have it repossessed.
All you really get is the right to sell it again.

In the eyes of the government, everything you get is a privilege. Not a right. Not a true possession.


12 posted on 03/15/2024 7:31:53 AM PDT by z3n (Kakistocracy)
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To: sauropod

Review


13 posted on 03/15/2024 7:32:44 AM PDT by sauropod (Ne supra crepidam.)
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To: z3n

“If you live in a state with property taxes, “

Which is ALL 50 states.


14 posted on 03/15/2024 7:39:33 AM PDT by irishjuggler
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To: JSM_Liberty

If you have been out of the stock market since the dot com bust you have missed out of a lot of growth,


No doubt. But two things factored into it. First, I’m horribly risk averse. Second, I feel that in the 21st century it’s become more like gambling than it ever was before. Things changed after the dot com bust. The investment rules changed. To me it’s a little like my friend just a few months before everything came tumbling down. His stock portfolio was amazing. It was like he couldn’t lose.

Until he did. Bigly.

I don’t trust the markets at all any more. But then, “wealth” has little value to me anyway. I’m doing great and the Lord always provides.


15 posted on 03/15/2024 7:43:14 AM PDT by cuban leaf (2024 is going to be one for the history books, like 1939. And 2025 will be more so, like 1940-1945.)
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To: z3n
If you live in a state with property taxes, you don’t actually own the title to your home. You’re just renting it from the title granting state, and if you fail to pay your rent, you will have it repossessed.

Property taxes existed in North America since before the U.S. was established as a nation.

I don't know where anyone gets the idea that "private property" and clear property titles free of liens and encumbrances are meaningless if you have to pay taxes on the property. Unless you are a sovereign state unto yourself, you are ALWAYS going to have a tax liability to one form of government or another.

16 posted on 03/15/2024 7:46:38 AM PDT by Alberta's Child (If something in government doesn’t make sense, you can be sure it makes dollars.)
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To: SeekAndFind

This is what a bankrupt, corrupt collapsed society looks like.


17 posted on 03/15/2024 7:47:44 AM PDT by Trumpisourlastchance
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To: eyeamok
I've looked for that info and don't see it. Do you have a link? If so, I'd be interested to read more.

What I did find;

  1. Your 401(k) is not exempt from garnishment or seizure if you owe federal income taxes in arrears. In general, if you are eligible to take a distribution from your 401(k), even with penalties, the IRS can seize it to settle your debt.
  2. The custodian of the account holds title to your assets for your benefit and reports to the IRS. The plan administrator carries out operations for the plan based on your instructions. If you’re concerned about your 401(k) in the event of a bank collapse, the impact will depend on several factors.
    If a custodian fails, there are measures in place to protect investors’ assets.
    The Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) provides insurance coverage of up to $500,000 for securities and cash that are in custody of a brokerage firm that fails.
  3. So, if the custodian were to fail, investors’ assets would be protected up to the insurance limit.
    You could also look to see if a bank that failed is affiliated with administering your 401(k) plan.
    In many cases, 401(k)s are administered by separate investment institutions rather than banks.
    Some examples of these investment firms are Charles Schwab, Fidelity Investments, Principal Financial and Transamerica.

18 posted on 03/15/2024 8:07:52 AM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts (The Truth is like a lion. You don't need to defend it. Let it loose and it will defend itself.)
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To: SeekAndFind

You will own nothing and like it?


19 posted on 03/15/2024 8:13:54 AM PDT by Libloather (Why do climate change hoax deniers live in mansions on the beach?)
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts

I searched for it too a while back and couldn’t find it, but I remember when it happened and I read it around 2009-2010 before I sold my house in Simi Valley and moved. It has been buried and deleted from the internet, but it will soon be resurrected.


20 posted on 03/15/2024 8:17:53 AM PDT by eyeamok
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