An Article That Doesn’t Make Much Sense…
For reasons that elude me—other than perhaps because it has a “click bait” headline—the folks at Bloomberg recently published an “op-ed” titled, “401(k) Plans No Longer Make Much Sense for Savers.” Sadly, it’s gotten some attention, aided and abetted even by industry publications, some of which incredibly reported on it as a straight news item. Much as it pains me to give more “oxygen” to this , the author, a “former risk manager” (he now apparently writes books), basically makes a tax argument. His essential premise is that once upon a time, the tax benefits of 401(k) made that investment worthwhile, but that tax rates have dropped, and they’re not likely to be lower in the future, so you’d be better off taking that money and investing it elsewhere (more on that in a minute). Oh, and he wants the federal government to forego its deferred taxation on those 401(k) monies so that you can pull that money out and invest it elsewhere without pause (we’ll not hold ou...