I have said for a long time that the system here will be held together until "they" take every last crumb of wealth away from the middle class. "They" being the people who control the system - i.e. big banks in conjunction with big government. The multi-trillion dollar retirement asset pool will be just too tempting for our politicians NOT to tap into and I'm sure Wall Street already has made noises about how to go about doing it so that Wall Street can keep making money off of it. As the explained in the commentary I've linked below, the Government has already plundered the Social Security trust, taking the money that was in there and writing IOU's - exchanging the funds and putting Treasury bonds in the Trust. So why does anyone possibly want to believe that the Governent will leave private retirement funds alone? That's either naivete or denial.
With regard to this whole matter, here is a quote from the blog mentioned above that nicely sums up the predicament you all are in:
Chances of this money being repaid to Social Security in full? Slim. The trend is more debt, not paying off existing debt. In fact, I’m convinced that politicians have their eyes firmly fixed on the trillions of dollars in private, individual retirement accounts (IRAs) in the United States to fund new spending.Here is the LINK - it's an excellent read. I say "you all" because starting in 2006, I have moved all of my IRA money into physical gold and silver and if I don't want to pay any taxes on the use of it I can move to Utah, which recently passed a law which exempts gold and silver used as currency from taxation.
If you are still skeptical that this will happen in this country, I would like to point out that there have already been hearings in Congress in which academic and banking professionals presented their ideas on why it makes sense to require that all retirement fund assets should be moved into a trust that is funded by Treasuries and uses the interest on the trust to annuitize everyone's retirement payout. If you play around with google you can probably find the actual press releases which describe those hearings (I lost my links when my laptop blew up over the summer).
The best part about the situation in Ireland is that Government employees are exempt from the taxes being levied on retirement funds. I would expect the same thing to happen here given the huge fight being waged right now across the country to preserve 100% of public employee pay and benefits. It's okay to plunder the private the wealth but the Government and its drones are sacred!
One last point. I personally do not believe that you can avoid overt or de facto compensation of your retirement funds by moving them offshore, as the blogger above recommends. I think anything that has an electronic trail will be fair game, open season. The ONLY way you can preserve your hard-earned wealth is to move as much of it as you can "off the grid." And the only way I know of to do that is to convert your paper largesse into gold and silver.
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/images/sp_en_6.gif)
Physical Gold and Silver, that is.
ReplyDeleteAnd keep it someplace else besides in a safety-deposit box at the bank.
Yes Mammoth, we know that Dave is referring to physical gold and silver.
ReplyDeleteUgly stuff in Ireland.
ReplyDeleteOT, I guess I could not convince you on a Big Steel Keg? Big Green Egg is an amazing cooker, I am sure you will love it.
McEnroe was probably the best "feel" player I ever saw. The set he took off from Sampras the year Sampras won his first US Open may be the best set I have ever seen.
I thought Goldman confiscated them already?
ReplyDeleteIsn't one of the golden boys in an advisory position over there in Ireland?
Notice the effective use of the margin call...oh it's just a coincidence ...my bad...
The People vs. Goldman Sachs
A Senate committee has laid out the evidence. Now the Justice Department should bring criminal charges
The legal definition of financial fraud may be murky and complex, but everybody knows you can't lie to Congress.
"Article 18 of the United States Code, Section 1001," says Loyola University law professor Michael Kaufman. "There are statutes that prohibit perjury and obstruction of justice, but this is the federal statute that explicitly prohibits lying to Congress."
The law is simple: You're guilty if you "knowingly and willfully" make a "materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or representation." The punishment is up to five years in federal prison.
This isn't just a matter of a few seedy guys stealing a few bucks. This is America: Corporate stealing is practically the national pastime, and Goldman Sachs is far from the only company to get away with doing it. But the prominence of this bank and the high-profile nature of its confrontation with a powerful Senate committee makes this a political story as well. If the Justice Department fails to give the American people a chance to judge this case — if Goldman skates without so much as a trial — it will confirm once and for all the embarrassing truth: that the law in America is subjective, and crime is defined not by what you did, but by who you are.
Timberwolf, the most notorious of Goldman's scams, was another car whose engine exploded right out of the lot. As with Hudson, Goldman clients who bought into the deal had no idea they were being sold the "cats and dogs" that the bank was desperately trying to get off its books. An Australian hedge fund called Basis Capital sank $100 million into the deal on June 18th, 2007, and almost immediately found itself in a full-blown death spiral. "We bought it, and Goldman made their first margin call 16 days later," says Eric Lewis, a lawyer for Basis, explaining how Goldman suddenly required his client to put up cash to cover expected losses. "They said, 'We need $5 million.' We're like, what the fuck, what's going on?" Within a month, Basis lost $37.5 million, and was forced to file for bankruptcy.
Those "All-Americans" were the assets in the Timberwolf deal. These were the recycled nightmare dregs of the mortgage craze — to quote Beavis and Butt-Head, "the ass of the ass."
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-people-vs-goldman-sachs-20110511?page=1
Dave: Did you completely cash out your IRA (pay the tax & penalty) then buy PMs? Or did you keep your IRA and buy PMs using an outfit like GoldStar Trust to store the metal?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cmi-gold-silver.com/gold-silver-ira.html
Tipping Point to Trigger $ Destruction & Hyperinflation
ReplyDeleteWith tremendous volatility in gold, silver and the US dollar, today King World News interviewed James Turk. When asked about the volatility Turk stated, “In a bull market there are a lot of opportunities to be shaken out. News comes up, downdrafts occur and you will see a lot of emotional reactions, but you really have to focus on the long haul. It’s been the same thing Eric, we’ve dealt with this many times before. Over the past ten years, back in the $320’s (on gold), back in the $400’s, the $700 area, it wasn’t going to get over $1,000 and then it finally did and here we are again. But at the end of the day gold is still holding above $1,500 and that in my mind is very, very important.”
When asked what will trigger the hyperinflation Turk responded, “What actually happens and what is quite clear is that there is usually some kind of event, it’s a tipping point. And the event causes people’s confidence in the currency pretty much to evaporate, and once that event occurs you’ve basically got six months before the currency is history.”
http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2011/5/12_Turk_-_Tipping_Point_to_Trigger_$_Destruction_%26_Hyperinflation.html
Completely cashed between 2006-2010. Paid the 10% penalty and I'm smiling because I've WAY more than recouped that penalty with the increase in my metal.
ReplyDeleteArmstrong-Bonfire of the Real Wealth
ReplyDeleteAs long as government is the ONLY party who can file charges, there
will be corruption and a thriving oligarchy to control government to
(1) prosecute enemies and (2) to prevent their own prosecution. We
have to understand the nature of the beast in order to prepare for the
future based upon simply what always unfolds under these
circumstances. This is the real driving force behind the shift from
PUBLIC to PRIVATE assets on the horizon.
The
bankers today have infiltrated government to such an extent, that we
have lost all sense of for the people by the people. It is now for the
oligarchy and by the oligarchy. This is why we are really screwed.
http://www.jsmineset.com/2011/05/12/so-you-thought-the-sovereign-debt-crisis-was-over/
Do Not Think That ...anyone that should go to jail will...
ReplyDeleteThe People vs. Goldman Sachs
The legal definition of financial fraud may be murky and complex, but everybody knows you can't lie to Congress.
"Article 18 of the United States Code, Section 1001," says Loyola University law professor Michael Kaufman. "There are statutes that prohibit perjury and obstruction of justice, but this is the federal statute that explicitly prohibits lying to Congress."
The law is simple: You're guilty if you "knowingly and willfully" make a "materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or representation." The punishment is up to five years in federal prison.
A Senate committee has laid out the evidence. Now the Justice
Department should bring criminal charges
They weren't murderers or anything; they had merely stolen more money
than most people can rationally conceive of, from their own customers,
in a few blinks of an eye. But then they went one step further. They
came to Washington, took an oath before Congress, and lied about it.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-people-vs-goldman-sachs-20110511
Nah...never here.....oops
ReplyDeleteNiall Ferguson's 4 Reasons Why US Dominance Is Over
LAS VEGAS—The era of US economic dominance is rapidly coming to an end as an “American Gothic” age sets in and China becomes the new global leader, economic historian Niall Ferguson said.
“The fiscal crisis of the United States is not going away. It is coming here soon,” Ferguson concluded. “The key decisions not just for the next four years but for the next 20 years will take place in Asia, not in the US. Welcome to the future.”
http://www.duffminster.com/times/node/333