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0 pointsklipt6y ago0 comments

And everyone else has 401ks which also suffer in a crisis, but the federal government can't bail out red state 401ks without also helping blue state 401ks, so in that sense 401ks are safer than pensions.

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ForHackernews6y ago· 1 in thread

I don't even know what it would mean to "bail out" a 401(k). By definition you, the employee, are exposed to all the market risk. If you happen to reach retirement age in a down market, you're kinda just screwed. Should've made better investment choices 15 years ago.

This is why traditional pensions were usually a better deal for most employees.

kliptOP6y ago

> I don't even know what it would mean to "bail out" a 401(k). By definition you, the employee, are exposed to all the market risk.

Exactly it means juicing the stock market, which the fed can do by lowering interest rates etc.

> If you happen to reach retirement age in a down market, you're kinda just screwed.

That's why you're supposed to allocate more of your money to bonds as you approach retirement.

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