This is the way I see it, maybe right, perhaps not. Things like SS and pensions are essentially promises that are made to you by the govt, and your company to pay you tomorrow for services rendered today. Like all promises, they can and have been broken before.
Things like a 401k are your money from the start. As such.... some really significantly bad things would have to start happening for anyone public or private to make a play for touching your personal funds. Your 401k is considered to be the same as your bank account and is always your private property. I keep reading in the news how SS is overburdened today, and how most people 50+ in america have a max of 18k saved up for retirement, and that is it!!!
So what does this mean for me, and you, and everyone else here in the forum that is looking for early retirement etc. We in this forum are all way ahead of the game. We either are affluent, or will be (by some peoples standards) at some point in the future due to our LBYM philosophy. I fear that in the next 10-15 years as all the boomers begin to retire, they will suddenly realize in what a dire financial situation they are actually in. This means that many will start panicing, and begging the govt to "save them". Even though it will be saving them from a lifetime of their own foolishness, the boomers will have one of the largest blocks of voters in the next 10-15 years. And with that many unprepared for retirement, and nothing better to do than to try to get more money from the govt, you can believe politicians will be hard pressed to say "no" to them. I would strongly suggest making all of your retirement money "yours" as soon as you can. I would not trusting pensions, or SS, as the govt can go after a promise far easier than confiscating peoples bank accounts. I will be watching for law changes very carefully over the next 10 years to see if my assets need to be moved somewhere safer.
Yes this is something that definitely bothers me. Warning: this post is going to be loaded with lots of broad generalizations:
Human nature seems to lead many people (myself included) to blame others for their own failure to prepare, or be informed, or get insured, etc.
Did your house get destroyed in an earthquake or hurricane, but you have no insurance and no savings? Demand money from the government and a FEMA trailer. And be sure to complain a lot if your FEMA trailer isn't comfortable enough.
Did your ARM adjust upward at the same time you lost your job and real estate values tanked? Blame the mortgage broker for failing to adequately inform you about the risks of your mortgage.
Have a gas guzzler and a 2 hour commute at a time of relatively high gas prices? Demand a gas tax holiday.
I'm a lawyer and I see this all the time in my work: when something goes wrong, nobody will blame themselves for their own mistakes or lack of preparation. They'll have excuses and try to put others on the defensive. And it's actually not a bad strategy. Especially if you're powerful. Big industries with clout and bargaining power extract concessions from the government all the time. Taxpayers pay the price.
I live in Utah where there's a pretty high likelihood of a catastrophic earthquake in the next 50-100 years. The funny thing is, hardly anyone has earthquake insurance. When it hits, there are going to be a million people in Utah demanding relief from the federal government, and we'll probably get it.
When there are tens of millions of people of retirement age who can't pay for retirement, you can bet that government will bend over backwards to help, even if it means the national debt balloons even further. Our government will just find some other country to blame for our budget problems. It'll be Iran's fault or OPEC's fault. We'll probably need to invade some countries in the middle east.
Okay, my rant's over. Anyone else agree with me?