If you have a retirement plan...

[The Cow Exploder]

... prepare to get bent over the barrel.

WH Unveils ObamaSave: Employer Mandate, Mandatory Enrollment, State-Run Marketplaces

Tuesday, the White House unveiled a plan to overhaul retirement savings that is eerily similar to ObamaCare in at least three fundamental ways.

Introduced as a “Fact Sheet” on WhiteHouse.gov, Pres. Obama’s plan to revamp retirement savings mimics his controversial healthcare law:

1. Individual participation is required, not optional,
2. There’s an employer mandate,
3. State-run marketplaces are created

The employer mandate would require employers to “automatically enroll their workers in an IRA” – with, or without, their consent – making employee participation compulsory:

“Proposed to automatically enroll workers without access to a workplace plan in an IRA. The President’s Budget will include a proposal – included in his past Budgets – that would require employers with more than 10 employees that do not currently offer a retirement plan to automatically enroll their workers in an IRA. Other individuals not automatically enrolled could participate so long as they fall below the income cutoff, and could continue to make their own contributions even if they change jobs.”

And, despite the failures of ObamaCare’s state-run health care exchanges, the president’s savings plan looks to create similar state-run “retirement marketplaces” for savings plans:

“The Administration has facilitated state efforts to create their own retirement savings options for their citizens”

“Issued proposed rule and guidance facilitating state efforts to create their own retirement savings programs. Over the past year, Illinois and Oregon have enacted their own state-level auto-IRAs, while Washington and New Jersey have enacted retirement marketplaces connecting small businesses and their employees to existing investment vehicles. Approximately 20 more states are considering similar measures or an alternative state-based 401(k).”

This would require increased government regulation:

“To address concerns about preemption by Federal pension law, the Department of Labor has proposed regulations and issued guidance clarifying a legal path forward, and will finalize those regulations later this year.”

And, like ObamaCare, “ObamaSave” is promoted as a plan to increase “access”:

“Expanding Access to Workplace Retirement Accounts

"Access to workplace retirement savings plans is key to workers’ future economic security. Today, one out of three workers does not have access to a retirement savings plan, including half of workers at firms with fewer than 50 employees and more than three-quarters of part-time workers. In addition, contractors and temporary employees are often unable to participate in employment-based plans. Workers without access to a plan at work rarely save for retirement: fewer than 10 percent of workers without access to a workplace plan contribute to a retirement savings account on their own.”
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But, also like ObamaCare, that “access” isn’t optional.

Foreshadowing his plan in his State of the Union address, Obama likened it to ObamaCare, promising that even unemployed Americans will still have “coverage”:

“That’s why Social Security and Medicare are more important than ever. We shouldn’t weaken them; we should strengthen them. (Applause.) And for Americans short of retirement, basic benefits should be just as mobile as everything else is today. That, by the way, is what the Affordable Care Act is all about. It’s about filling the gaps in employer-based care so that when you lose a job, or you go back to school, or you strike out and launch that new business, you’ll still have coverage.”

... surprised I hadn't seen anything about this here, guess everyone's so distracted by Trump that they don't have time to notice the "goodies" coming down from the current administration as part of their final hurrah.

 

[Cohiba]

I guess our Representatives and Senators are just waaaay to busy to inform their constituents. I wonder how the same (Senators & Representatives) stand on this issue...maybe they're to busy with other issues....maybe.

I would like to know their position on this. Usually when I call, I always get an assistant and plenty of "yes" and "agreements"....so....

 

[Okie4570]

I'm still a little sore from the previous bending over.......

 

[4play]

We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.

 

[Profreedomokie]

I thought he would take everyone's retirement accounts and put them in a general fund and use it to buy votes.

 

[Dale00]

Something tells me to wait until we get confirmation from other sources before sounding an alarm. There are simply too many people making a living off of scaring people into sending money to them to fight this or that major emergency.

 

[Sanford]

Something tells me to wait until we get confirmation from other sources before sounding an alarm. There are simply too many people making a living off of scaring people into sending money to them to fight this or that major emergency.

The 'fact sheet' is there to read: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-pres...eet-building-21st-century-retirement-system-0

 

[yukonjack]

As a lame duck Obama is going to propose a lot of things. In the short amount of time he has left this one isn't gonna happen.

 

[tRidiot]

So... we're required to pay into Social Security, shoring up a system that is already failing, and most of us believe will no longer be solvent when our turn to collect arrives. And now we're going to be forced to invest in an IRA on top of that, all by the .gov?

Man... am I wrong in thinking Wall Street is going to LOVE this? I mean, all those zillions of new IRA dollars have to be invested into something, right? I don't know the specifics, but I'm assuming the money will be put into investment accounts for them to play with - more capital, more playing around with someone else's money.

I might be totally misunderstanding it. Are the funds going into private IRA investment accounts, or into .gov't-controlled programs? I mean... is my forced retirement saving going to be underwriting Planned Parenthood and SNAP, or is it going to go into the private sector?

 

[nich018]

As a lame duck Obama is going to propose a lot of things. In the short amount of time he has left this one isn't gonna happen.

this ^^^^^^^