Please explain this to me in simplistic terms... they will force us to buy their government debt with our 401ks?
All it takes is for Congress to pass a law, and the president to sign it.
I’m merely speculating as to the possibility of it at some point. Like the other poster said above, it’s probably political suicide to try it, but if the alternative is national default, who knows?
“They will force us to buy their government debt with our 401ks?”
You got it!
I remember reading this article
http://whiskeyandgunpowder.com/will-the-feds-fund-deficits-with-401ks/
Excerpt..
The writing is on the wall for retirement assets held in conventional ways. A report last week in Business Week shows that the U.S. Feds have 401(k) assets in their sights.
“The U.S. Treasury and Labor Departments will ask for public comment as soon as next week on ways to promote the conversion of 401(k) savings and Individual Retirement Accounts into annuities or other steady payment streams, according to Assistant Labor Secretary Phyllis C. Borzi and Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Mark Iwry, who are spearheading the effort.
“Annuities generally guarantee income until the retiree’s death, and often that of a surviving spouse as well. They are designed to protect against the risk that retirees outlive their savings, a danger made clear by market losses suffered by older Americans over the last year, David Certner, legislative counsel for AARP, said in an interview.”
Now ostensibly, the plan to offer an annuity option for 401(k) plans will seem sensible. But don’t be fooled.
This is the beginning of a money grab by the Feds for the $3.6 trillion in assets held by U.S. 401(k)s. The Feds need that money to finance the deficit. This is where some of the money to fund the deficits may come from, answering a question we asked earlier in the week. What you can’t take, you’ll have to print.