Seven Numbers that Add Up to a Death Tax for Retirement

[Tom Joad]

It's been stolen by the super rich.

I have posted sections of an article that details how this theft has been going down. You can read the entire article at the link provided.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/03/03-5

The dream of a comfortable retirement is dying for many Americans. It's being extracted as a form of tribute to the very rich, a redistribution of our nation's wealth, a "tax" imposed on the middle and lower classes and paid for with their retirement savings.

1. A $6.8 Trillion Retirement Deficit in America. But $8 Trillion in New U.S. Wealth Was Created in 2013.

The problem is that most of the new financial wealth went to the richest 10% (almost 90 percent of all stocks excluding fast-disappearing pensions). B

2. $6,500 is the Median Retirement Fund for Upper-Middle-Class 50- to 64-Year-Olds

3. ZERO Wealth Gained among 93% of Us, While the Richest 12,000 Families Made $100,000 EVERY Day

4. TWICE the Cost of Pensions -- That's What Ten States Pay in Corporate Subsidies

Americans who have worked all their lives, dutifully paying for their retirement years, continue to be accused of greed and threatened with pension cutbacks. David Cay Johnston calls it "nothing short of theft."

5. 40 Cents of Every 401(k) Dollar Goes to the Banks

6. Two Dollars: The Approximate Wealth of Black Families for Every $100 of Wealth for White Families

7. Almost 10 Percent of an Underserved Household's Retirement Money Goes for Financial Fees

A U.S. Office of Inspector General survey reports that "The average underserved household has an annual income of about $25,500 and spends about $2,412 of that just on alternative financial services fees and interest." That includes fees for payroll cards, prepaid cards, subprime auto loans, and numerous other financial products that are sold to over 68 million financially underserved U.S. households.

More details here.