Botched article on 401k

[Sunset]

I seem to recall that it is highly advantageous to isolate 72t funds in their own IRA and I'd need to dig into the rational which I won't do as I'm not a candidate and someone more knowledgeable will reply in a moment.

I'm not a candidate either, but had considered it.
The reason to isolate the funds is so that you can use the "other" money for emergency withdrawal. If you deviate the planned 72t withdrawal in any way, it breaks it and you owe a lot of penalties.

 

[exnavynuke]

Perhaps my language skill is not that good either, and that makes me think the article's English is not bad.

The information presented is incomplete and very misleading, and that's the real flaw in my humble opinion.

There's more to the language than just using "their, there, and they're" properly. Poorly composed articles like this one are a prime example of what a professional writer should NOT be doing regarding many facets of writing. When the writer mentions two "issues" (running out of money in retirement and using their retirement money before retirement) and then associates the same "solution" with both (taking money out before retirement) I can't tell if it's because they don't understand that the issues are different or they just didn't recognize how to properly compose their paragraphs and sentences. As disjointed as the rest of the article is, I lean towards the latter explanation because I'm going to assume the writer doesn't actually think having less retirement money is a solution to running out of money in retirement, despite the obvious lack of understanding of the subject they otherwise exhibit.

 

[target2019]

The millennials at my office used their 401ks regularly as a line of credit. Sad.

Recently heard that in law who is late fifties took a loan from new 401k already. She was very excited about how this was a great rate, and so on. I said nothing at the time, just nodded in agreement.

 

[JoeWras]

Recently heard that in law who is late fifties took a loan from new 401k already. She was very excited about how this was a great rate, and so on. I said nothing at the time, just nodded in agreement.

And you pay back yourself! What's wrong with that? Win-win-win!

 

[Clone]

I pulled a 401k loan for an impulse purpose that I didn't have pocket cash for. Fall of 1999. Paid it back over the next 3 years or so. That didn't work out too bad...

 

[twolfy]

The best part of the article was tell young people to have money automatically taken out of their checks ( and invested)and not let it go to your hands first.

 

[Big_Hitter]

The best part of the article was tell young people to have money automatically taken out of their checks ( and invested)and not let it go to your hands first.

that's what my dad told me to do 30 years ago - good advice

 

[ERD50]

It's possible this article author missed the fact a person can have more than one 401K, for example I have two of them, so that is of course called a 802K.

And don't forget about the 804Kb (a 401K and a 403b).

-ERD50

 

[socaldonnan]

Both my DH and myself retired just about three years ago. At the time DH was 65 and I was 62 neither one of us are planning to take withdrawals from our 401k or 403b accounts until 70.5. But I chose to take my SS at 63. I was no longer contributing thus it wasn't increasing. DH waited until 66. My thoughts were I'd rather have the use of the money instead of waiting three years. DH ran the calculations on a spreadsheet for different ages from 63 until full retirement age at 66. The difference in waiting to collect were not that great. I take half each month and deposit in a Vanguard after-tax account and the balance goes in a vacation fund.

 

[marko]

I did notice that they don't have a comments section, so it's unlikely the author will ever know (or care) how much bad information they are putting out. It's certainly not very good training for becoming an actual journalist, as opposed to whatever this was.

They used to have a comments section until a few months ago. But 80% of the comments seemed to conflict CNBC's view of the world so I suspect that's why they dropped it. It did get nasty some times.

Having said that, it's surprising to have an article from a financial source be so wrong. If this was from "Time" magazine it would be one thing...coming from a financial go-to outfit is a bit disappointing.

 

[Maenad]

They used to have a comments section until a few months ago. But 80% of the comments seemed to conflict CNBC's view of the world so I suspect that's why they dropped it. It did get nasty some times.

A lot of sites are starting to kill the comments sections because of the massive amounts of trolling and harassment, especially directed at women.

 

[JoeWras]

There's plenty of harassment to go around.

Thankfully, this site (ER) has good moderation and community standards.

 

[Gumby]

There's more to the language than just using "their, there, and they're" properly. Poorly composed articles like this one are a prime example of what a professional writer should NOT be doing regarding many facets of writing. When the writer mentions two "issues" (running out of money in retirement and using their retirement money before retirement) and then associates the same "solution" with both (taking money out before retirement) I can't tell if it's because they don't understand that the issues are different or they just didn't recognize how to properly compose their paragraphs and sentences. As disjointed as the rest of the article is, I lean towards the latter explanation because I'm going to assume the writer doesn't actually think having less retirement money is a solution to running out of money in retirement, despite the obvious lack of understanding of the subject they otherwise exhibit.

One would think that her educational and professional background would lead to better, more informed writing.

Rice University, BA in History, Asian Studies and Policy Studies; Fulbright Scholarship to China; London School of Economics, Masters in International Affairs; Peking University, Masters in International Affairs

I usually report on every Fox Business show during market hours, including Varney & Company with Stuart Varney, Risk & Reward with Deirdre Bolton, Money with Melissa Francis and Countdown to the Closing Bell with Liz Claman. I also tape a business-focused package story that airs on local Fox affiliates around the country and file a few radio reports. Often, I do a live report for Fox News at some point during the day and pitch in on Neil Cavuto's Fox Business show.

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