In tough times, the 401K's are bombarded with doubts for those with troubled companies. If capital gains tax is raised to 29% as Barak suggusts, it adds another burden. He's smart enough to know this and should propose a double tier tax table for regular stocks and 401K's if he decides to go through with this. For us caught in this trap hope that Barak addresses this conundrum before November 4.

get out now i took my 401K and rolled it over to an ira ! iras are government insured to 250,000 ! 401K is nothing but garbage in this enron place they call wall street ! wall street can't even hold a dollar let alone a dime.. ho ya 8 yrs of g.w the error and 12 yrs of a republican controled house and sen up untill 2007 this is what we have ? and lets not forget 10 billion a week for a war in iraq ? but nothing on a healthcare program for americans.. ill never vote republican again!!!

See any information here that would help any of those near 60 folks that are losing big in those accounts right now? Only advice I've seen is find a job. Oh yea, that the advice for those 68 too; because, what's gone is gone.

Wow, nobody sees the big picture here. The plan was to Bankrupt the American economy, but there was too much money in 401k's, and the government is losing money because of the tax laws associated with them Check out the Wall St Journal story. The Democraps are already planning to take control of the 401k's. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122477680834462659.html

Like I said several months ago we are in a depression that will last for severals years so l will say to you sell all assets and you retirement accounts before our goverment takes them over which will happen soon. the already own banks insurance companys your home car copanys do you see what is happening here,socialism

Think back to your school studies about Socialism & Communism. What happens first? They take over the media, ala NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, and tell you what they want you to know. Have you heard any unbiased information coming from these media outlets? What happens second? They raid the Treasury. (Look at the bailout package.) I heard the money was to buy the bad mortgages from the mortgage banks & get them off the books. Goldman Sachs was an investment bank. How did they become FDIC insured over a weekend?
(On Sept. 21, in a move that fundamentally changed the shape of Wall Street, Goldman and Morgan Stanley, the last major American investment banks, asked the Federal Reserve to change their status to bank holding companies.
See http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/goldman_sachs_group_inc/index.html?inline=nyt-org) Henry Poulson worked for these guys. Is that not a conflict of interest?

I believe this is a terrorist attack on the
United States and partner countries .
Oil affects everything and when OPEC
brought us to our knees with the gas crisis
along with the thieves on Wall St and our
so called Prez not able to put in place any
solutions....they the terrorist saw just how to rock our world... I believe this
down in the market was only the 1st test
to see our reaction, wait til the next time.

In today’s electronic and technology based economy news travels fast, and it’s not just brokers trading stocks anymore. Worldwide ordinary people have gotten in on the action trading stocks from their own home. Greed and fear is what has always controlled supply and demand which controls price. Nowadays, price fluctuations are quicker and more news driven causing higher levels of volatility. The market will turn when the news media gets tired of sandbagging the economy and reporting only bad news. I watch CNBC eight hours a day when day trading stocks, and have seen the markets instant response to bad news within seconds of reporting.

What I’m starting to notice now is less fear and downside market reaction to bad news. I believe with stocks now being priced so low that greed will soon start to drive them up. When a market plunges it’s a good thing for the soon to be investor because all the fear has been flushed. When everyone decides to sell on fear all at once this creates way more supply than demand, and this is what causes prices to plunge. At this point in the game it is way too late to sell stocks. Selling stocks now could be a mistake of a lifetime because soon bad news will become old news. The media will then start to pump the good news because that is what people will now want to hear.

When the market climbs from the bottom everyone in stocks now become winners. If the market drops again they will still be winners because it will only drop to the prior resistant level where the buy in occurred. My prediction is that the market will produce a greed rush to buy stocks within two weeks time and we will see a 1,000 gain on the Dow. It will probably lose half of that over the next three days and then the market will slowly start to climb until the economy strengthens. The news media likes to hype up any news including the government bailout plan. Most American taxpayers think this money is coming out of their pocket to never be returned with interest being paid. The bailout is a loan and gives the government the opportunity to make money from lending to banks.

Just remember it’s all about good news, bad news, and greed and fear! Now is the time to flush the panic and bring in the winners.

As a 60 yr old investor I have come to the conclusion that the only way to make money in this market is to buy and sell more often as the market flutuates. Over the last 10 years I held my IRA in a managed brokerage account and it went up and then down to where I started. I guess I'm lucky to have broken even. So much for the long term. For me I have the time and have done much better during these volitile days controlling things myself. However for the younger folks it will get better, but always remember the 2008 markets performance. Also, be sure 2008 is included in any charts that show long term performance of a fund.jmo

I look at this as a learning curve. I lost,against my financial advisors advice to leave my savings in a RO/IRA;market connected. I inquired at the beginning of the housing crises and was told that the market is up and down,it would come back. Famous last words of the so-called experts in Wall Street who now admit their errors. I lost $1,000 in six months on my IRA. I should have exercised my inner feelings and pulled all funds when the housing market started dropping. Our lending institutions,still reluctant to give way are much to blame.
I have rolled over my IRA and 401-K to a strait IRA at 4.00%;a guaranteed earnings. I am 70 and don't have time to worry about more losses.
The question for everyone is; how old are you and how close are you to intended retirement? Do you have the time and possible loss of money to deal with the economy for several years to come? I believe things will get worse before they start to improve even slightly,certainly for the small investor.
With the advent of a new administration,whomever that may be the world economy will be in termoil for some years to come. The world is in a financial meltdown,unemployment is at an all time high,companies are financially strapped. Where is all the money going to come from; tax payers,for those who are working or on government retirement funding,increased taxes on retirement funds? We can't blame any one administration for the current ecomonic crises. The next administration will inherit the current problems for years to come,and we will blame them for not doing the right thing.