"Please. Complete hyperbole.
If losing a job or losing money ruins your life, then you're not made of very stern stuff."
BS. Maybe, maybe you're one of these staunch entrepreneurs who lands in the dirt, dusts himself off, and keeps going. Or maybe, like me, you're comfortably into a career, but nowhere near the end of it; plenty of time to recover from a shock.
The majority of people work a job, put money away, and live their lives with the expectation that as they near or reach retirement age, their savings will be there. This security is the tradeoff they make for the lower pay and poorer conditions of being employees as opposed to entrepreneurs.
Now you take your 62 year old, with 30 years in the company; or you take your 70 year old, into his retirement, and you take it all away, and they're going to just pick up and say "meh"? I don't think so. There *is* no next job for those guys.
Now, as their job is gone, their house is taken, their marriage is on the rocks, and their kids start thinking of them as a burden and not a joy, you tell them to suck it up and put on the happy blue greeter's apron.
Personally I'm expecting the same @#^#ing by our friendly federal government when the boomers all retire and demand my wages be taxed at phenomenal %age to pay for their last gasp of ME-ism; and the fact that I see it coming does not abate my deep anger at the prospect.
Dear No.6,
If you're 62, and have the bulk of your 401(K) in a single stock, then you've done a very poor job of taking care of your financial future, and should take responsibility when it's ruined by the failure of a single company.
As wideawake points out, folks are permitted to sell their vested shares. The fellow with 30 years, and who is 62, has had a lot of vested shares to sell. If he didn't unload boatloads of them, then he's acted irresponsibly.
Mr. Lay certainly deserved prison for his crimes. But folks don't get to lay the consequences of their own stupidity at the feet of Mr. Lay.
sitetest
I've mentioned this before, but I believe (and fear) that what you mention will come to fruition in some sort of fashion. When you consider that there has to be trillions invested in 401(k) and IRA plans, you wonder how long it will be before politicians (from BOTH parties I believe) will look at such $ as they next great tax revenue stream.
What to do? I don't know. I ping Southack, as he is knowledgable in such things economic.
If they honestly believe that they can put all their savings into a single stock and never have to worry about retirement, I'm surprised they ever learned how to tie their shoes or make toast.
If you put less thought into your personal retirement plan than you do into your favorite sports team, then you deserve everything you get.
I know someone that happened to. He now has a minimum wage job and sleeps on his employers warehouse floor. Not the way he planned his golden years.