Recession? Depression? Yeah, you think?
Bad news is creeping up all around us.
The violent stock market volatility only underscores the fiscal
problems we face here in the USA. States, counties and cities
are all slamming up against the financial wall.
Again, it is simple math. We can't spend more than we earn.
Washington keeps kicking the can down the block and this
is what happens......
In Flanders, Rhode Island, they are learning first hand what the
rest of America either is, or will soon be experiencing.
Retirees, take a 50% cut in your pension or risk losing it all!
CNN report on July 21, 2011 by Julia Talanova
A daunting realization after a lifetime of work and promises to
deliver a pension you can live on. Tough choice. But a better one
than letting a bankruptcy court decide for you, so they say.
Remember the United Airlines pilots and other United retirees?
The United Airlines Pilots are still fighting the bankruptcy.
Not so good.
"Why?", you ask. "Doesn't have anything to do with me!"
Well, perhaps, but if you have a pension plan with a large corporate
business or union, they all grow their pensions on Wall Street.
Wall Street and the stock market are vulnerable to wild swings in value
and are frequently manipulated by the large "To Big To Fail" banks
and brokerages. Take a Union pension for example. It is managed by
a trust fund that invests with Wall Street Banks and Brokers. In 2006,
you had a pension valued at $100,000. In 2007, that same pension
was valued at 75,000.00. A one year loss of 25% and in this case
$25,000.00, which certainly better than many who lost more that 50%!
Only now, in the last reporting cycle 2010, has that same pension fund
gained back the 25% it lost in 2007.
Took three years to get back to where you were in 2006. Not a bad
return for the period, but you didn't get ahead of where you were in
2006. Actually, after inflation you are still $8,206.00 behind where you
could be. You can test the strength of your dollars at the
Minnesota Fed website. They have a calculator that can tell you what
your dollars are worth today, versus a period in the past.
If you have a 401k, you or your broker or your company can opt where
to put that money to work, but most of you don't manage your own
accounts. But you should at least take an active interest of how your
retirement money is being managed. Is it in your best interest?
You should know!
However, you might not have that option much longer. As Congress and
Mr. Obama jostled back and forth in their theater of high drama staring
"The Debt Ceiling." They are looking for ways to pay for promised entitlements
to the American people. They already have plundered US Government workers
401k's and pensions to ride out the "Debt Ceiling Debate."
But they are hungry for cash and where do you think they will
look next? Gulp! Yep that's right. Your private 401k's are next. Don't believe it?
They had discussions in committees in Congress as early as 2008. Here is one
opinion of how they will do it.
So what do you do?
Well, maybe the University of Texas has a good plan.
They have been investing in gold. True. They started in 2009 and have invested
about 750 million in physical gold. It is worth more than a billion dollars at today's
- $ 1,600.00 an ounce - prices. That is a 30% plus gain in two years. Not bad at all.
Precious metals are a strategic hedge against fiat money printing and currency
debasement which we are seeing world wide. It is important to note that they bought
the full physical backing of gold or silver.
Two good funds to look into are Sprott's Gold and Sprott's Silver Funds or the
Central Fund of Canada. All of these funds legally have to have physical silver and or
gold to back the fund. The beauty of the Sprott's funds is that you can ask for and
receive the physical metal from them. Here is an article by Michael Johnson talking
about the Sprott Metal Funds from 2010 that can give you some insight.
It is important to take control of your financial future right this moment!
Why is this so important now, right this minute? Big changes are happening
world wide. Take a look at Greece and Europe. The USA has a higher GDP
debt ratio than Greece and Greece has really technically defaulted.
It is coming to us soon. Again the market volatility speaks to a credit problem.
The world is changing rapidly and if you don't start looking at how to protect
yourself, you and your family are going to get run over.
Here are some thoughts from Karl Denninger at the Market-Ticker
who has been railing against Congress for over 4 years to stop the spending
and reduce the debt.
