Del. Breaking Down the 401k and 403b

if (is_feed()) {} else {
echo "(right-click to download) | “;
}
?>Those of you in Houston Texas, it is your week. I am going to be teaching in Houston this weekend my two day seminar both Saturday and Sunday. We are also having our case study and cocktail party tomorrow so if you are interested in attending either please make sure you call in to the office and reserve yourself a seat!

I will start with an email that I got today that really got me laughing. It is an advertisement for a financial advisor that helps people decide what to do with IRAs and 401ks. That sales pitch, interestingly enough, reminds people that money is being lost in their 401s and IRAs so advice is obviously needed with how to handle these two vehicles. My initial thought was to wonder why a sane person would want to continue investing in vehicles that are failing. Why not go and do something where people are actually making money?

His advertisement did not show a list or a group of people who he advised last year that had their funds go from 100,000 dollars to 200,000 dollars. That is the approach I take when I talk about real estate investing. I show people that other individuals who have made more than 100% returns on their investments since last year when the market crashed.

I am telling you that you won’t be able to believe in the pitch that I am telling you about until you see it for yourself. There are hundreds of people who come and share their stories with you and don’t hold anything back. Until you come and meet these people it is hard to listen to a radio show or TV show and buy into the hype I am selling you.

Speaking of TV, I don’t know how many of you are actually watching my television show but I do have one on the air Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night from midnight to 12:30. I am now officially part of that “midnight madness” and I even catch myself on the TV every once in awhile when I stay up to late after a good movie or basketball game. It is a strange thing to see yourself on TV I have to tell you.

I do want to read the email I was talking about earlier, it says:

Have you evaluated your 401k or 403b lately? We are reaching out to a select group of professionals whose 401ks and 403b have been impacted by the recent market turmoil.

1. Two trillion dollars has evaporated from investment vehicles nationwide. (a million = a thousand thousands…a billion is a thousand millions…a trillion is a thousand billions…scary huh?)

Do you continue to contribute money to a vehicle that is continuing to go down at this rate? I remember having this conversation with my ex wife, back when I was young, and saying to her that we needed to increase our contributions to it so that we might stay even with the market…do you understand how insane that concept is? That was truly a weak moment in my life when I did not have an answer for life just like the rest of you probably do not have that same answer.

So what do you do?

You have been told to work your life away and feed your 401k until it is time to start working. What do you do when the amount of money is going down faster than you can put it in?

Interesting question indeed.

2. 20% of workers 45 years and older have stopped contributing to their 401ks.

I bet the number is even higher when you look at all the people below the age of 45! The reason they use 45 though is because those people who lost half of their savings at that point are helpless. How are they ever going to recover that vast amount of money they earned.

3. The number of workers who are expected to work past the age of 60 has tripled.

So the 401k program is not working and not allowing people to retire and the number of people who are figuring that out has just now tripled.

That is something scary folks.

Listen to the radio show for more