The last financial crisis we faced threatened the nature of how we do business. Some say that capitalism nearly failed. And yes, it was bad – and continues to be bad. However, are we facing a larger crisis in the coming years?
I was playing around this weekend reading up on retirement accounts and options available to me when I came across this gem:
How many times have you read financial-advice stories lecturing you to max-out on your IRA, save as much as you can in your 401(k), and even pay taxes now to change your regular IRA into a Roth IRA that will be tax-free until you die?
Well, be careful how much you save.
That’s the message in President Obama’s budget for fiscal 2014, which for the first time proposes to cap the amount Americans can save in these tax-sheltered investment vehicles. The White House explanation is that some people have accumulated “substantially more than is needed to fund reasonable levels of retirement saving.” So Mr. Obama proposes to “limit an individual’s total balance across tax-preferred accounts to an amount sufficient to finance an annuity of not more than $205,000 per year in retirement, or about $3 million for someone retiring in 2013.”
That’s the annoying thing about the Left; they just feel they know all about “fairness”. See, it’s not fair that someone retire with more than a certain amount.
And why?
Because, the Barackness Monster knows best.
The State of Minnesota is reporting that they may soon have a record number of job openings available for state government jobs:
The executive director of the Minnesota State Retirement System, Dave Bergstrom, said Monday that 2,733 state employees have retired as of this month, up 675 from the record 2,058 who retired in 2010.
This news should cause much happiness and relief for the State, right? As more and more people feel comfortable leaving the work force, younger folks can move up and be replaced at THEIR level by new job market entrants. This is the nature of things. Further, it may spell a growing confidence that we have seen the worst when it comes to our economic doldrums.
However, the State doesn’t see it that way:
However, State Demographer Tom Gillaspy said the wave of retirements does pose some problems for state government, which is faced with replacing senior employees with unique skills in subjects like school finance, tax collections and building roads in Minnesota’s hard climate.
Now, to be sure, from the perspective of Minnesota State executives, this IS a problem. Finding quality staff to replace senior staff is definitely an issue. Both in the government sector and in the private sector. However, from MY perspective, the fact that we have people less good at school finances and tax collections is a most wonderful condition.
The harder the State finds it to take and spend my money, the happier I am.
By the way, how, in this jobless recovery, is THIS possible:
The retirements could also bring into focus the state’s difficulty hiring top quality replacements, given that pay and promotions in state government now lag the private sector and academia, Gillaspy said.