How many folks are needing to "cash out" of their 401-k's to LIVE?

[KoKo]

I'm wondering if "some" of our Stock Market Diving means folks are cashing out of their Retirement Savings to pay for their living to keeps kids in food and cars in gas to get to work...and maybe even to pay their Credit Card and Mortgage payments.

The Mainstream Media wouldn't want you to know about this...but how else can people survive UNLESS they dip into their SAVINGS...Young People are already MAXXED OUT on CREDIT...so what's next.

This is very bad for the American Economy if this is true and yet being "unreported." :-(

[whistle]

1. Yep, WS speculators are getting it all one way or another

...when the dust settles communism will be back on the table

[KoKo]

3. Huh? what are you talking about...??? n/t

[skooooo]

8. ..

:bounce:

:applause:


(Maybe not communism, but a more robust social system would be in order.)

[Oregone]

2. To live?

Thats not living...that's called becoming a robot. To everyone that says we have means to survive, its a survival, for many, stripped of all benefits of a fruitful and happy life.


To the OP: Yes, people do what they have to in order to keep their hearts beating (and its only going to get worse). I wonder at which point people will risk sacrificing their beating hearts so their children can not only live, but flourish. We may yet see that yet.



BTW, interesting movie here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0762117/
Its something when they interview the parents of the kids who are killing themselves.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

4. I personally know a few.

For exactly the reasons you listed. I took some out of mine last year to pay off a big credit card bill. Oh, I know the "experts" in the MSM freak out about that but I also know they are shills for financial cos. They want you to keep your money in the 401k so fund managers can gamble with it AND make minimum payments on credit cards. Screw that. The compounding interest on that card was 24.99%. Ain't no way in hell my 401k was going to beat that.

[KoKo]

11. If you are in your 20's and 30's early 40's ...taking that money out now to pay off debts..

might be the best thing you could do. You have some years to get "yourself in order." And, paying huge interest rates on Debt...could give you in the coming few years a "better return" than hanging in their with the 401-k...but...with the market so "down" today...I'd wait for a bounce before I cashed out...the next one propped up by Bushies might be a good time to "cut and run."

Hey...Hubby and Me...we went through all the crap of Reagan where he "gamed us." If we'd gone with what the Financial Guru's were telling us...we wouldn't have survived. Paying off "Credit Card Debt" is the best thing you can do...to get solvent and ahold of your finances...because unless you are a "whiz trader" or a "financial guru" we are in for some hard times where all the cash you can get will be better than "speculation" if it helps one survive and getting out of DEBT is the BIGGIST THING...that gives you FREEDOM! just saying...from someone whose been around a bit...but wtf..do I know...it's only my observations to hope those younger than me "BEAT THE GAME/SYSTEM" of the Corporatists who Hook you on Credit and Stock Market...but don't protect you when it all "goes down" and they happen to "cash out" without warning you.

[pitohui]

5. young people maxed out on credit don't have 401(K)s

do you really think people have much in the way of savings left after nearly 8 years of this shit?

i believe that the market crashed because people have no disposable income, there is no savings left to get and hasn't been for a long time, only the "extra" money, right now with costs so high everything is going for gas and milk and meat -- nothing left to circulate into the economy

most 401(k)s were decimated by 911 and enron/worldcom, so there just isn't that much in them anymore in my humble opinion

how long could you live on what's in your 401(K) -- assuming you even have a job with such a thing, i sure don't!

[Antinius]

6. Watch

the $BKX.X

The Bank Index. As long as it stays about 60, there has not been capitulation yet. Mark my words.

[DS1]

7. I burned through plenty of mine during a long unemployment streak

[Mojambo]

9. Same here.

Mine's gone.

Used up when I was unemployed from 2001 -2003.

Uninsured, no savings and a job at a small retail business that is frankly teetering on the brink right now.

Not good times. At least I don't have a family to support.

[DS1]

10. Damn. Same years.

It sucks. Hang in there.

[KoKo]

13. That's bad stuff...the Dot Com Bust & Bush hurt folks who saw jobs go to India and lot's of others

who weren't into "Real Estate Bubble" got burned by not being able to ride that one and "hop off" before that one "crashed and burned."

:hug: ...We need to do better than this for all our folks.. and it's shitty out there.

[skooooo]

12. nope..

still intact

[tech3149]

14. I haven't worked since early 2002 but haven't had to dig into retirement.

I did sell off some stock a few months ago and got less than half what it was worth a year before. I've gone to a minimalist/ non-consumer lifestyle and you'd be surprised how happy you can be doing all the daily chores and having the time to think. The money I spend, except for car insurance< is at locally owned stores or Goodwill. I don't think there is any way we can avoid the hardship we saw in the last big republican depression, but those of us who pay attention to the stories of our parents and granparents might be able to ride it out.

[skooooo]

15. ...1930s depression

It wasn't that long ago that many people sewed their own clothes. Even in the '60s and 70s my family did that to save money. About half of our clothes were probably handmade. The mothers and grandmothers that went through the depression never forgot the value of money and taking care of what you had.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

16. That's pretty much what I'm doing now

I have a business but it's one of those things where I can take a break when things are tough and resume at a later time. Right now, I'm volunteering part time for a local candidate, which may pay a little if his fundraising picks up. It's very easy to cut back on a lot of expenses, and not having to work saves me money on things like gas, office supplies, taking clients to lunch, and "business" attire. My only splurge is a nice wine every now and then. :)

[kevinbgoode]

17. I'm really proud of you...I've been doing that as well.

Out of necessity. After being in grad school in middle age, I certainly learned how to cut expenses and get used to living on few luxuries. The funny ting is I alo look around and see that I still have more than I need. . .and that my material desires are rather few. I can't say why I'm happier that way (perhaps being in a campus environment where lots of smart people live on the cheap) but I'm so used to going to Big Lots and Dollar General that I don't even give it a passing thought.

One thing I've learned from being rather comfortably middle class in the past: the more you have, the more time you have to take to maintain everything. That alone makes me want the less-is-more attitude. I don't want to spend my every spare moment cleaning or maintaining another item I don't need.

[tech3149]

19. My way of thinking these days is

The more things you own,the more they own you.I*'m pretty happy with my internet connection, a few toys and tools, and at least one musical instrument. After my family, those are the only things I need.

[leftofthedial]

18. three years ago

they ran out