Green Retirement

Under the guise of increasing the retirement savings rate of the American people, a noble and necessary goal, President Obama is planning to transfer even more money from the American people to Wall Street.  Adding insult to injury, for millions of struggling American workers, President Obama announced his retirement plan to benefit Wall Street on Labor Day Weekend.  Obama’s retirement plan uses an old bank marketing gimmick, whereby American workers will be automatically enrolled in their company’s 401k plans, unless they choose to opt-out.

What’s wrong with 401k’s?  As retirement author Dan Solin points out: “The existing 401(k) system is a scam far greater than anything Bernie Madoff could have conceived. His $50 billion Ponzi scheme is dwarfed by the $12 trillion 401(k) rip-off imposed on plan participants by their employers, and the mutual fund and insurance industries.”  401k plans generally have high fees and contain poor performing funds, that benefit Wall Street, while forcing American workers to save more and work longer.

Feigning concern for the American people, President Obama explains why his retirement plan is necessary, “Tens of millions of families have been, for a variety of reasons, unable to put away enough money for a secure retirement,” Obama said. “Half of America’s work force doesn’t have access to a retirement plan at work. And fewer than 10 percent of those without workplace retirement plans have one of their own.”

While factually correct, American workers do not save enough for their retirements, the motivation behind Obama’s seemingly thoughtful idea is in reality, just another attempt by Wall Street to get their hands on the American people’s money through high fees and commissions.  Having failed under the Bush administration to privatize Social Security, the Wall Street retirement industry has found another champion, and another way to loot the retirements of the American people.

President Obama’s retirement plan, is eerily similar to his health care plan, which forces Americans into paying for corporate health care. What can you do to protect yourself and your retirement?  Several things.  First, you can contact your congress person, and the White House, and tell them to keep their hands off your retirement.  Second, you should opt-out of 401k’s altogether, and do your own investing.  Investing on your own is really not that complicated or difficult.  Pick-up a copy of “The Smartest Investment Book You’ll Ever Read.”  Follow the advice in the book, and save yourself money, and many extra years of work.  There’s a 95% chance, that if you invest on your own, you will actually beat your 401k.

And finally, stop being a victim of the biggest Wall Street scam, one bigger than the 401k scam, the amount that the Wall Street retirement industry calculates you will need for retirement.  Wall Street uses a formula based on your salary, that turns you into a wage slave, and forces you to save hundreds of thousands of dollars more than you need, and work many unnecessary years.  Use the Green Retirement formula to calculate your retirement savings needs, try our free retirement calculator, and retire early.  President Obama may be a corporate tool, but there is no reason why, you should continue to be a corporate fool.