Free Republic

An out-of-touch academic, writing a column for Bloomberg Opinion, demonstrated just how out of touch the country's elites are as inflation hits every sector of the country. Instead of hiding the mess, or better yet, just not printing it, Bloomberg Opinion tweeted its existence out with a handy tip sheet: (tweets at link) Inflation stings most if you earn less than $300K. Here's how to deal: ➡️ Take the bus ➡️ Don’t buy in bulk ➡️ Try lentils instead of meat ➡️ Nobody said this would be fun Which was about as amateur-hour as it gets on the age-old topic...

An economics professor has a solution for the little people dealing with the country’s inflationary woes: Use mass transportation, eat more veggies instead of meat, and cut back on unnecessary care for your pets.In a Bloomberg.com op-ed, the New School’s Teresa Ghilarducci says these tips are a good idea for anyone making less than … $280,000 per year. “To deal with gas prices, it’s worth reconsidering public transportation if it’s an option where you live,” Ghilarducci says. After all, mass transport fares are up only 8 percent compared to 38 percent for gasoline. And don’t think about getting a new...

A BLOOMBERG Opinion piece is getting backlash after a 'tone-deaf' tweet saying that inflation 'stings most' for those making under $300K a year. "Nobody said this would be fun," the controversial tweet by Bloomberg Opinion reads, sparking thousands of people to react to the March 13 article by Teresa Ghilarducci. Ghilarducci makes suggestions in the piece like pivoting to vegetables in order to avoid inflated meat prices, and taking the bus to avoid inflated gas prices. "I expect those most affected will adjust to inflation in the classic way by shifting away from relatively expensive items toward close substitutes." The...

The law, which took effect Saturday, allows Pennsylvania to seize some retirement accounts three years after they're presumed abandoned - regardless of the account owner's age. Previously, the state waited until individuals reached age 701/2 before seizing retirement accounts and liquidating the portfolios. Now, older folks and famously contact-averse millennials could be affected. Valley Forge-based Vanguard, with more than $3 trillion in assets, isn't happy about the state's budget-inspired change and plans to join forces with others in the financial industry to repeal the law next year. ... For those who opt to communicate electronically, the "lost contact" trigger is...

When President Barack Obama introduced a new retirement savings plan during his State of the Union speech last month, the Republican response was uncharacteristically muted. Although Republicans were upset about the president’s new reliance on executive authority to push his agenda, they had few harsh words about the details of the retirement idea. Dubbed MyRA, Obama’s initiative is intended to allow workers who do not have access to other workplace savings plans to open an account overseen by the government that would invest in low-risk Treasury bonds. It’s a relatively modest proposal, one that would be entirely voluntary for employers...

One of the earliest fears about tax-favored savings accounts like IRAs and 401(k) plans was that when this pool of savings grew large enough Congress would not be able to resist tapping it to help solve the nation’s debt problems. We’re about to find out if those fears—persistent for decades—have been justified. Everything including the sacred mortgage deduction is on the table as lawmakers wrestle with the fiscal cliff, a year-end avalanche of scheduled spending cuts and tax increases. With a combined $10 trillion sitting in IRAs and 401(k) plans, retirement accounts make a juicy target. Some of this money...

America is heading into a retirement crisis, an economist says. Most retirees haven't saved enough money to retire and Teresa Ghilarducci blames America's entire system for retiring. It’s been 30 years since the Individual Retirement Account model became the standard way for Americans to save for retirement. But many people who saved for three decades watched a lot of that money disappear during the financial crisis. And now, more than half of American workers have saved less than $25,000 for their golden years, and about 30 percent have saved less than a thousand dollars. Overall, the system is failing, says...

One of the nation's largest labor unions, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), is promoting a plan that will centralize all retirement plans for American workers, including private 401(k) plans, under one new "retirement system" for the United States. In effect, government pensions for everyone, not unlike the European system and regardless of personal choice. The SEIU, which was integral to the election of Barack Obama as president, is working with the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute (EPI), and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, on SEIU's plan, called "the Retirement USA Initiative." Claiming that the retirement system...

You may have heard about Argentina's plan to nationalize private retirement accounts. Some Democrats on Capitol Hill are inspired, and with their big election victory they may get the chance to test Peronist ideas in America. Meet Congressmen George Miller and Jim McDermott, who are eager to change the way Americans save for their golden years. They'll also be powerbrokers in the next Congress. Mr. Miller, who came in with the Class of 1974 from California, chairs the House Education and Labor Committee. Mr. McDermott, who has represented Seattle the past two decades, runs a House Ways and Means subcommittee...

Although unknown to most Americans, Teresa Ghilarducci is the intellectual godmother for the Democrats' plans to radically change how Americans save for retirement. Ms. Ghilarducci, an economist at The New School for Social Research, called for the abolition of the tax breaks given to employers for 401k plans and instead proposed the mandatory enrollment of American employees in Government Retirement Accounts (GRA's) that are funded by a 5% mandatory payroll deduction in her book, When I'm 64: The Plot Against Pensions and the Plan to Save Them, published last year. Ms. Ghilarducci outlined her proposals in a briefing paper nearly...

Teresa Ghilarducci: The 401(k) Retirement System Has FailedJanuary 30, 2009 03:51 PM ET | Emily Brandon **SNIP** Under Ghilarducci's plan, outlined in her book When I'm Sixty-Four: The Plot Against Pensions and the Plan to Save Them, all workers who don't have a traditional pension would be required to contribute 2.5 percent of their income to a government account with a 2.5 percent employer match. A 3 percent return above inflation would be guaranteed by the government. U.S. News asked Ghilarducci about her controversial retirement plans. Excerpts: **SNIP** How will GRAs fix the retirement system? After 30 years of experience...

Mark Levin interviewed Professor Teresa Ghilarducci whose plan for the U.S. government to take over private pension plans to "protect retirees" is being touted by Congressman Barney Frank. This interview will go down as classic Mark Levin. (She is voting for Barack Obama. Go figure). "You pick your crooks," Dr. Ghilarducci said. No ma'am; we elect them. Mark got it right. This scheme infuses funds into Social Security, with fear during the current shakey stock market as the motivator. Yet if you think about what Dr. Ghilarducci said during an earlier interview, you realize it creates an even bigger unfunded...