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I have a tough time trusting the 401k and Roth concept. It's kind of your money, but it's also under the control of the government. You just have to trust the

I have a tough time trusting the 401k and Roth concept. It's kind of your money, but it's also under the control of the government. You just have to trust them. If you're in your 20s, trusting 401ks/IRAs means having faith there won't be a fiscal crisis and/or a crazy government at any point in the next 45 years. Seems like a somewhat dicey bet to me.

byoung2 16y ago
You're going to be trusting the government either way. Put your money in the bank, and it's FDIC insured, and you have to trust the bank and the government. If there's a financial crisis, the bank is more likely to collapse than the government, and if the government collapses, what good are US dollars anyway. I'm assuming you have gold bricks and a very large mattress?
- rubashov 16y ago
  > You're going to be trusting the government either way With money not in a 401k or IRA, one can: keep gold bars in a vault overseas (I do); bury cash or gold in the yard; buy woodland or farmland and trust that local property rights will be maintained; open bank accounts overseas. There's just a whole lot of ways to store wealth outside the easy reach of crazy politicians. When the money is in a 401k or IRA it is firmly in the grip of the IRS and whatever they might arbitrarily choose to do at some point over the decades.
  - byoung2 16y ago
    keep gold bars in a vault overseas - You're at risk if diplomatic relations between your country and the other country go south between now and retirement. bury cash or gold in the yard - laughable at best buy woodland or farmland and trust that local property rights will be maintained - a government that you fear will seize your IRA or 401k will likely also seize your land. See Cuba and the Bacardi company. open bank accounts overseas - Overseas bank accounts are not safe from an overzealous US government. As of 2009, you have to report all those Swiss bank accounts.
- patrickgzill 16y ago
  Just a note, at current prices a kilo of gold (about the volume of a hardback book) is $40,000 . I would think that having enough gold to fit in a single layer under any mattress would mean that retirement is imminent.

byoung2 16y ago

You're going to be trusting the government either way. Put your money in the bank, and it's FDIC insured, and you have to trust the bank and the government. If there's a financial crisis, the bank is more likely to collapse than the government, and if the government collapses, what good are US dollars anyway. I'm assuming you have gold bricks and a very large mattress?

rubashov 16y ago
> You're going to be trusting the government either way With money not in a 401k or IRA, one can: keep gold bars in a vault overseas (I do); bury cash or gold in the yard; buy woodland or farmland and trust that local property rights will be maintained; open bank accounts overseas. There's just a whole lot of ways to store wealth outside the easy reach of crazy politicians. When the money is in a 401k or IRA it is firmly in the grip of the IRS and whatever they might arbitrarily choose to do at some point over the decades.
- byoung2 16y ago
  keep gold bars in a vault overseas - You're at risk if diplomatic relations between your country and the other country go south between now and retirement. bury cash or gold in the yard - laughable at best buy woodland or farmland and trust that local property rights will be maintained - a government that you fear will seize your IRA or 401k will likely also seize your land. See Cuba and the Bacardi company. open bank accounts overseas - Overseas bank accounts are not safe from an overzealous US government. As of 2009, you have to report all those Swiss bank accounts.
patrickgzill 16y ago
Just a note, at current prices a kilo of gold (about the volume of a hardback book) is $40,000 . I would think that having enough gold to fit in a single layer under any mattress would mean that retirement is imminent.