What are your thoughts on the Democrat's 401(k) plan?

I do not agree with the plan at all, I have worked hard all of my life , I don't want to pay for those who are irreponsible, I don't want to pay for their houses, I don't want to pay for their retirement, I can barely afford to pay for my own retirement. Spread the Wealth is what Obama is all for, with this he got the vote of irreponsible adults who don't want to work not because they can't but because they don't want to, and I have met lots of those, people who don't make enough money for their families, idealistic teenagers and people who live off food stamps. Who wouldn't want the promise of receiving a free paycheck, who wouldn't love to own a very expensive house even though they can't afford it?. Who wouldn't like to live in idealistic-everybody-is-the-same communist land?. Social Security won't even exist by that time so my guess is Obama will get his hands in our 401K's Spread the Wealth ....

No need to panic. All that is happening is that Democrats and perhaps others are examining retirement options and having a discussion. The legislative process requires deliberation and compromise. Nothing is going to change until everyone has a chance to express their opinions and offering competing viewpoints.

401k accounts should be examined under a microscope because these are not without their shortcomings. They are great for employers because they have eliminated the legacy costs of traditional pension plans. But they have not been so great for employees, other than the fact that they are supposedly "portable." Problem is, about half of the people that change jobs end up spending their so-called portable retirement accounts. And, others just make such poor investment decisions, they end up with 3% annual return in any case.

Remember Bush's and the Republicans attempts to privatize Social Security? That didn't fly, either, but it was worthwhile to examine the problem and discuss potential solutions.

The pendulum is simply swinging the other way now that the stock market has tanked. In any case, I don't see where anyone is suggesting that 401k accounts will be "seized." If Congress does vote to make wholesale changes to the tax laws regarding 401k plans, they likely will grandfather in the current accounts, as suggested in the articles for which you have provided links.

As a retiree, this is the one issue that has my attention more than anything. 3/4 of my savings are in IRA's or 401k. I have worked hard to save this money, and the government has no right to it. It was Chris Dodd who has made this proposal. Your numbers are skewed a little. He is suggesting that the government take over all 401k and IRA plans, and pay you 3% a year. When you did, they take it all, your spouse gets nothing. My personal thoughts are that it may be a scare tactic. People like me will take out all our 401k money, pay the taxes on it now so that we have the power over our money. As stated by Dick Morris today, Obama will not make the same mistakes as Bill Clinton did in his first two years. He will cling to his far left platform to keep harmony in his own party. ugh! ....and people think things are bad now.

I agree with you. This hits home. I mean Obama says he's for the middle class yet he wants to stick it to them with stuff like this. I work hard and sacrifice a lot of my pay to fund my retirement. I don't want to work my whole life and I don't want to be dependent on the government that just wants to take and take from me. I'm tired of our government taking from me to give to people who are lazy bums. I'm tired of it. WTF am I doing? I feel like I am being robbed. I have enough to worry about than worrying about if the government is going to just steal it all away from me. I'm sick of it. I love my country but G*d Damn the Government! And I read all your links and this smells of being more dependent on government. That's what I would like to avoid. I hate when the federal government always sticks their nose where it doesn't belong. They have already messed up Social Security, I don't want them messing with private investments.

I think it would be nice to have control over my own money. Not have Big Brother tell me how it has to be invested.

social security is a myth. it will disappear eventually anyway. the sooner the better, i say.

Have you really "thought through" your apparent vitriolic hatred of "socialistic" plans?

To be consistent and logical, I assume you would also like to abolish the Interstate system, public schools, ambulance services for non-incorporated locations, measles shots for children who live outside cities, paved streets outside addresses who didn't 'cough up' the funds for paving, the Post Office, the Social Security system, public hospitals, the library system, public sewerage systems, subsidized electricity,.....etc., etc., etc....