Friday, January 08, 2010

Wanna Buy Treasuries? You May Be Forced To!

Ticker noted this.

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.--Quoting Businessweek

Umnnnhhhh....Ticker has a more dramatic take on this than I do.

Let me tell you what this is - it is an attempt to prevent the collapse of the Treasury market! Forcing people into Treasuries as an "annuity" is exactly what Social Security allegedly is.

It all depends on "when." If you convert your 401/IRA to an annuity when you're about to retire (65, or 67, or ~103 in Rusty Feingold's scenario), nobody's "forcing" anything, are they?

OTOH, if Treasury wants that conversion to occur right now, regardless of your age, then read the rest of Ticker's post.

You won't like it.

3 comments:

Headless Blogger said...

Might be time to redirect my 401(k) into WI lottery tickets.

Larry Denninger said...

HB - how is that any different than paying taxes?

Dad29 - so what's your recommendation? Cash out now and pay the penalty, or stop contributing?

Dad29 said...

Personally, I'd keep up with the news. That sort of thing will definitely get coverage; you'll have time to consult with a professional.