Uncle Sam's Retirement Account Stealing Plans Gain Steam

Americans have over $3.1 trillion stashed in their 401(k) plans; billions more reside in IRA accounts and other private retirement savings accounts. The government would love to get their hands on that money, and they have a number of perfectly legal options for stealing your retirement cash. Yet until recently, stealing that money was viewed as crossing the line. Now, new government proposals are putting some fire behind the idea that your money might as well be Uncle Sam’s money – and the sooner, the better.

The drive to steal your retirement savings

Our government is effectively bankrupt, but it’s hooked on spending. Unfortunately, broke Americans and wary foreign investors are getting less and less inclined to give Uncle Sam their money. Sales of Treasury bonds are slow and tax receipts are down, while both China and Europe are facing their own economic declines and not able to offer Uncle Sam an international bailout. As a result, your retirement savings look ripe for the picking.

All that money just screams out to the political geniuses owned by the Federal Reserve and tasked with keeping the lights on in this country. And while they may not be planning to steal it at gunpoint, the legislation they have in mind is the next best thing.

Taking your money “for your own good”

The government thinks you’re too dumb to manage your own retirement money. It’s pretty rich, coming from a group of politicians who’re too dumb to balance a budget, but the powers that be are convinced that Americans need help saving for retirement. To give them the help they so desperately need, the government wants to take charge of retirement savings.

No more private accounts. No more 401(k) options, IRAs, or private tax-shielded retirement vehicles. Instead, the government wants to enroll you in one of their new proposals, which all have names like the “Automatic IRA,” the “Guarantee Retirement Accounts,” or the “Lifetime Income Option-Annuity Income Stream” to make them sound like a good thing for the people. The names are being thrown around by experts at think tanks, the Labor Department, the IRS, and out in the states, but none of them mean good things for you.

Basically, in the eyes of all the “experts” out there, the current tax code is too confusing and Americans don’t know what to do to save for retirement. So the government will make it easier for confused citizens by nationalizing retirement savings and automatically redirecting a portion of paychecks, tax refunds, and even the cash value of unused vacation hours to a designated retirement account program. The catch? Well, the government owns the account, not you, and the money goes into a pool like the Social Security fund instead of a private account with your name on it.

Existing retirement accounts will be redirected to the new programs owned by the government. Some could go to the general pool, while others could be converted into government-owned annuities that start paying out when you hit your eighties. All of the money will go from being outside the sticky fingers of government hacks to well within reach of the spending junkies.

The theft deadline is near

If you think that the proposals for stealing your retirement won’t take effect until some distant date future, think again. America’s fiscal emergencies are happening now, which means the plans for nationalizing retirement are also being rolled out now.

2012 saw legislation introduced in Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, New York, Florida, Connecticut, California, Georgia, and Pennsylvania to shift how retirement accounts and pensions are owned by private individuals. These states are taking their cues from proposals made as a part of Obama’s 2008 campaign platform. He didn’t pull the trigger on those proposals when he was first elected, but that doesn’t mean he’ll pass on the chance to build on his Obamacare legacy now that he has another four years.

California, naturally, is leading the way. On September 28, 2012, Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation creating the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Trusts. It includes automatic enrollment, default paycheck contributions, pooled funds instead of private-named accounts, and mandatory annuity creation. Supposedly it will be self-financing, but the feasibility studies haven’t come back yet proving the program won’t be a burden to tax payers. The government is celebrating it as a win anyway.

Don’t like the way this sounds? Don’t be asleep at the wheel. Check your state to see what new bills are being introduced now to change how your retirement savings are taxed, monitored, and distributed. Take steps to protect your hard-earned money by getting it out of government control and into gold or silver. Remember that stealing retirement money has happened before all around the world when countries go broke, and there’s nothing but your vigilance stopping it from happening to your money now.