Government still contemplating 401K takeover.
There was a story I covered one year ago ago where several lawmakers met to hear a proposal of an outright 401K takeover modeled after the Argentine policy. At the time it seemed like a far fetched notion, but BusinessWeek ran a story hinting that the threat still exists. Now the story itself does not outright suggest a takeover, but the following should give you pause. The U.S. Treasury and Labor Departments will ask for public comment as soon as next week on ways to promote the conversion of 401(k) savings and Individual Retirement Accounts into annuities or other steady payment streams, according to Assistant Labor Secretary Phyllis C. Borzi and Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Mark Iwry, who are spearheading the effort. So as of now the idea is to gently inquire as to whether people would be interested in converting their existing accounts into steady revenue streams. For laymen this simply means investing into the treasury market and this should not be surprising giv