So..... is it over?

Unfortunately, I believe it is you who does not understand fully what is going on with the economy, Double. The value of the Dollar varies regularly. Yes, it has gone down in value compared to other currencies such as the Yen or Euro. What you may not realize is that this is actually a sheep in wolf's clothing. The Chinese have been intentionally holding down the value of their currency for 20 years. You know why? Because that drove manufacturing to their country. It's cheaper to produce a widget in China than it was here. This is a very simple and elementary business principle that has been practiced for eons.

Now, on to your second point: Companies cannot "take away" the money that YOU have invested in a 401k plan. Understand something: An employer does NOT manage the 401k funds. They contribute to it, if they should decide to, but they do not CONTROL it. IF they took the money that YOU put into the plan, that is a FELONY. They can decide to discontinue company contributions to the plan, and may decide to close their 401k plan altogether. That does NOT mean that your money disappeared into a huge void. Since the plan is MANAGED by someone else, perhaps American Century Investments, for example, they have the money (or what is left of it after the value of the investments hit the floor), and THEY will contact you and ask what you would like to do with the remainder of your funds (cash out, or roll into another investment - the 1035 exchange).

Now, the lady who lost her entire 401k was more than likely the victim of the market decline. I myself lost over $60k in my investments, rolled the remaining funds into American Century when my company went belly up and unfortunately, used most of it for living expenses while I looked for new employment.

I've got news for you on the Health Insurance coverage. Companies never really could afford to subsidize the group health insurance policies that they were paying for. And again, that does not mean that you cannot have insurance. You can go get your individual plan anytime you want. Employers are finally figuring out that they do not have to pay that much anymore, especially when they cannot afford it. Example: Total Premium on my group plan for myself and family at my last corporate job: $870. My contribution was $300/month. The company paid the rest. I bought my own policy, I paid $450/mo. The employer paid NOTHING. There is no reason for a cash-strapped company to continue paying for your benefits if they cannot afford it. Health insurance is available. All you have to do is go shop for it. If the company can save that amount of money, and perhaps just toss an extra $300 or so into your paycheck so you can buy your OWN coverage, they save money, and possibly saved YOUR JOB.

We'll never use the "Euro". The Euro is the currency of the EUROPEAN UNION. Get it?

 

EXACTLY!!!!

 

Aaahh, I see. That makes sense. That happens a lot unfortunately. Evene in good times when businesses have trouble, they tend to scale back on their contributions or pull out of the funds altogether, forcing employees to roll into another investment. Either way, that money (or what is left of it after a market crash) is available for the employees to move into other managed funds anytime. The employer contributions were golden though. I'll definitely miss that "FREE MONEY".

 

Thats pretty #### good mileage, roadkill! Tell em to hold an OTR truck for me for when I get back in the spring of '10. I'll go back and forth REPEATEDLY from the east coast to west coast for three days off!

 

Typically, if a company is dissolving a plan, laying off, or going out of business, your funds are automatically vested, and you'll be given an option by the plan administrators or the managers to roll it into another fund, keep it with the same managers, or cash it out. Cashing it out of course, leaves you with a huge tax bill as well as a penalty for early withdrawal of retirement funds.