Posted on 12/10/2013 5:29:43 AM PST by reaganaut1
Fewer than half of blacks and Latino workers have retirement plans on the job, leaving the vast majority of them with no savings designated for their golden years, according to a report to be released Tuesday.
Americans of all races face the growing prospect of downward mobility in retirement, the report said, but the problem is particularly acute for blacks and Hispanics.
More often than not, blacks and Latinos benefit little from the tax breaks and other policy initiatives aimed at bolstering retirement security because they typically have no money to save for retirement in IRAs and other vehicles outside the workplace, according to Diane Oakley, executive director of the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS), which conducted the study. In addition, they are much less likely than whites to have defined-benefit pensions, particularly outside of public sector jobs.
“Those are startling findings,” Oakley said. “The typical household of color has nothing saved in a retirement account.”
The report highlights the retirement security problems looming for a nation grappling with serious debt even as an aging population is demanding more services from government.
A broad sweep of policy makers, including the Bowles-Simpson deficit reduction commission and President Obama, have endorsed trimming future Social Security benefit increases as a way of reining in the national debt.
Charles Blahous, research fellow with the Hoover Institution and one of the trustees appointed to oversee Social Security and Medicare, argued that Social Security has the perverse effect of discouraging cash-strapped people from making a priority of retirement savings.
“A true answer to the problem would mean decreasing our society’s dependence on income transfer programs as a source of retirement income, and increasing the net amount of saving that we do,” he said in an e-mail.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
All arguments for immigration are stupid.
To this headline... SO, they can work until they drop like the rest of us. Tough.
My give a damn busted a long time ago.
Why should they save? They already know that those who do will have their savings redistributed to those who don’t.
Obama will pay for it out of his stash
That is a good point. As well, many in these groups simply do not comprehend deferred gratification. They do not plan for the future and live solely for today. Every group has some folks like that but some groups are mostly composed of such people.
Exactly. By the time they pay for the Smartphone, the car, the bling, etc...there isn’t any money for savings.
See my sister. She has no savings. My mother left her some money and she spent it on a 5th wheel and a car to pull it. Tomorrow is another day.
With our 401K's, IRA's and other savings.
Like 0 says....Income Equality™ must be addressed.
You shouldn't be punished with a baby OR for NOT having any savings. Period.
Let those who worked hard make up for your lack of discipline - they didn't build that 401K!
Re-distribution of retirement savings will be required to redress past inequities in the distribution of income.
It’s so unfair!! We need some more gubmint sponsored plunder!!
Next up, it’s so unfair that Hispanics and blacks don’t own houses. . .
I would bet that sometime in my lifetime 401’s and IRA’s will be rolled into some sort of Social Security fund promising to provide benefits to everyone evenly and fairly. That is why I cashed mine out long ago and put it into real estate.
If it just stopped there, that would be one thing. It seems likely though that these tax deferred retirement savings will be forcibly converted to a government administered retirement plan. But don't worry, "you'll do as well or better than you would have under your old plan." Wink wink.
And it might not stop there. There is already talk of means testing for eligibility for Medicare and SS. This means testing will take into account net worth which will include property that you own as well as investments that you have. And there may be more. I have also read that a "one time" tax assessment on net worth is being considered. This has already been done in Cypress.
This is the beginning of the nationalization of our 401k’s discussion. They have to fire up the class and race warfare machine to get the ball rolling.
No solutions are proposed by this report, but reading between the lines and with the reference to Sen. Warren, you can assume the following:
Democrats would support:
1. Social Security taxes applied to ALL income - no ceiling.
2. Greater increases in Social Security payments.
3. Repeal of tax benefits for retirement savings accounts.
We’re getting great signals on what liberals are going to run on in 2014. Income inequality. Not only as it applies to working people, but also to those who are retired. They’re dividing us (again) along racial lines because they only way they hope to hold their own next year is to gin up turnout among minorities in states where there are key Senate races. Otherwise, they’re toast.
Go stand at the entrance to the parking garage where I work and track the race of who’s driving the Acuras, Lexus’s (Lexii?), Mercedes, BMWs, etc. There’s a real trend there.
It would be interesting to compare that with the 401(k) participation rate.
If you normalize for income,
net worth tells the story of the difference in cultures.
That’s just getting the public ready for the next big wave of government ‘reform’. A massive transfer of money that hard-working people have saved to those who have saved nothing and vote democrat.
You think it isn’t coming?
Sure they do. It’s the Uncle Sam Checkcome Plan....
Two full generations raised on an instant gratification, drive-thru, on-demand lifestyle can’t be expected to think about the FUTURE, can they? /s
We conducted a 401k survey at work one time, asking our employees how they anticipated funding their retirement. 70% of the under 30 crowd replied with “win the lottery” as opposed to savings or 401k involvement.
Cuz you can’t afford all the latest electronics if you’re saving for the future, you know!
Most of those vehicles are leased. There is also a scam where people simply default on the lease, the car is repo’d and they then go out and get another lease at a higher interest rate. Rinse and repeat.
The phones are free or bought in a back alley. The bling is plated. The clothing is worn once and returned, bought at closeout, fell off the truck or shoplifted. Maybe the hairdos and nails are retail, but likely there are ways of which I am unaware to achieve that look at a discount.
Caveat: there are successful folks of all races. Some came by their toys honestly. They are not the ones on benefits. If you can afford to own a high-end vehicle, you likely have some sort of savings. Or, you have a pension. $40k/year is the equivalent of a couple of million at today’s interest rates.
If retirement is equalized, will those of us who are white and have lost money in this high tax, low rate environment be made equal as well? Somehow, I doubt it.
“Meanwhile, a host of state and local governments have been cutting back on pension benefits for public employees, saying they cannot afford their long-term cost.
Such public employee pensions, which typically pay a fixed benefit for life, have been of particular help to African Americans, who make up a disproportionate share of government workers. Similarly, trimming retirement benefits will disproportionately hurt the retirement prospects of black workers, even as they struggle with lower housing values and homeownership rates than whites.”
This is the first time I’ve ever read anything that truthfully reflects preferential hiring to the extent it has occurred.
Pity the poor private sector taxpayer, burdened with massive costs from exorbitant pensions and heathcare, unable to fund their own retirement, continuing to pay ever higher taxes to fund the government retirees.
On 401Ks:
“But that money, while growing, is not distributed equally, many argue. Most of the money is being saved by higher income Americans, while many working class and low-wage workers are struggling to even earn regular full-time hours at work.”
The mantra continues that the money you earn and save is not your money.
If the democrats win Congress next year, count on new rules for private retirement funds in the name of fairness and equity.
Of course, none of this will apply to our feckless rulers.
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