How Retirement Benefits Will Change in 2016

U.S. News & World Report ^ | Nov 16, 2015 | Emily Brandon

[Steve Schulin]

Retirement savers will get the option to participate in a new type of retirement account next year, the myRA. There will also be fewer Social Security claiming options for married couples and a small Medicare premium increase for some beneficiaries. Here are some of the important ways retirement benefits will change in 2016...

[Steve Schulin]

And thanks to many folks who posted to thread started a few days ago, Question about Social Security Benefit Increases

[grobdriver]

There is only one investment option, a Treasury savings bond

Sounds like an effective takeover of retirement accounts (for those who choose to take this option) to me...
No thanks.

[sarasota]

That’s exactly what it is. I’m now getting nearly daily emails from SS and each one is their way of becoming intrusive by gathering more information.

[Leaning Right]

There is only one investment option, a Treasury savings bond

That's almost unbelievable, but I checked, and so it is. And they noted that the bond has "a variable interest rate that has averaged 3.19 percent over the past 10 years."

Over the past 10 years...but not now. I'd be surprised if that bond ever breaks 3% again.

[Buckeye McFrog]

How Retirement Benefits Will Change in 2017

Bernie Sanders will get elected and name Theresa Ghilarducci as Treasury Secretary. They’ll implement her grand scheme to confiscate all IRA’s and 401K’s and roll them into a big national “guaranteed” pension plan. This will allow them to bail out all of the bankrupt union and public employee pension funds, while simultaneously making the US Government the biggest shareholder in all corporations.

Simultaneously they will increase Social Security benefits by applying payroll taxes to all levels of income and slapping a transaction tax on Wall Street.

[moovova]

And, it’s a Roth IRA, so you don’t get the tax deduction that you’d get with a Traditional IRA. No deduction and a lousy return.

[exnavy]

Bump

[freds6girlies]

bookmark

[Abby4116]

Yes, it does. It gives the government complete control of those funds.

[wbill]

Of all the tinfoil-hat conspiracies that get touted as "a sure bet" here on FR, I think that what you posit is the most likely to happen - in fact, I'd call it "a sure certainty" if Dems get a majority in 2016. All those trillions of dollars, just sitting there, is just too tempting for politicians NOT to try and steal.

And sadly, I think that mainstream America would go along with it. "3%!! Guaranteed?! That's like, way more than the .1% I'm getting on my bank deposits."

[tbw2]

Keeping the official inflation rate low is one of the few ways the feds can continue to afford to borrow more - by keeping payments on existing debt artificially low.

[sparklite2]

Roth IRAs must be for people of substantial means,
as I don’t see a benefit for the middle class.
What they do is have you fund the IRA with money
that you have already paid income tax on. Then,
when you cash them out, they are tax-free.

However, unless you have a substantial income
in your retirement years, you should be able to
withdraw from a regular IRA without triggering
any income tax. That means the tax-free money
you put in comes out tax-free at the end, unlike
the Roth IRA, where the government go you going in.

[tbw2]

And it doesn’t have to be like some nations nationalizing retirement accounts all in one fell swoop.
Just limit how much people can put in 401Ks and Roth IRA have no limits on MyRa accounts invested in government bonds, though you can hold government savings bonds in a 401K or IRA.
Then see them tout the popularity of MyRa while saying we need to end 401Ks and other IRAS. I see this now with the “only the rich utilize them, scale back the tax benefits for them!”
Another option is slowly upping the percentage of the 401K and IRA accounts that must be held in federally approved “safe” investments. Start with 1-3% cash or federal bonds, then ramp up as the federal government needs more money.

[sparklite2]

This is the senior editor
at USN&WR who wrote
the article.  Looks like
they're gettin' 'em
right out of grade
school.

[wbill]

yep. Or, just see to it that inflation degrades the value of what already is ther..... never mind.

FR spins up some doozies. From the preppers who are excitedly waiting on the world to end, to the FReepers who think that the Bilderbergs used chem-trails to get Obama re-elected in 2012 ... we manage to come up with some whoppers.

But, this particular one is likely. Combines the collective greed of pols with the collective stupidity of the population.

PS./ I made up that thing about the Bilderbergs. But somewhere, a FReeper is reading what I just wrote and yelling "AHA! SEE! I TOLD YOU!!" to no one in particular.

[wbill]

Smarmy, Self-satisfied looking chick, isn’t she?

[tbw2]

One possible combo I see: the federal government mandating 3% or similar percentage get saved for retirement by employers, then mandating the MyRa as the only safe option or being the only practical option for companies not big enough to maintain a 401K plan.

Then you get the feel good “we’re making people save for retirement!” with “new money for federal bonds”.

[AllAmericanGirl44]

bkmk