My brother just called.

[Skidmore]

to tell me that he lost his entire retirement fund this week. The Republican administrator of the hospital that he works as a facilities manager for had invested the employees retirement plans in AIG. Above and beyond that, they are threatening layoffs while expending funds to renovate the CFOs office suite to look like the lobby of a 5-star hotel. This is just one of several bad decisions these people have made but I don't want to write a long essay on the situation. He said that there will be a protest locally this weekend at which 15,000 people will be expected to attend since local taxes are being raised while several plants which build parts for the auto industry are being closed. This is in Illinois.

My brother is a pretty low key guy. He said he could possibly could be without a job soon because the hospital is literally hemorrhaging funds. Told me that he could have a mortgage and no job, then chuckled and said that his truck was paid for so he could always pull it up on the Mississippi River bank and pitch a tent. I offered him our backyard too, and we'll join him on the river bank if things keep turning south for us. Circle the vehicles and spread a tarp between them.

I'm worried for him.

[hobbit709]

1. The peasants are going to have to uprise

to stop this kind of crap. I'll give you two to one that said administrator's retirement fund ain't wiped out.

[tbyg52]

12. Here's a start.

www.anewwayforward.org

[Horse with no Name]

2. I'm so sorry

I am also so tired of hearing how CEO's wreck their employees lives but their lives never seem to be impacted.
I long for the days that Americans start learning lessons from the French.
I would offer the CEO of my hospital up for hostage anyday.

[hobbit709]

10. 1789 and 1917 were good years for this.

[panAmerican]

3. What a travesty.

And who are the geniuses on the board of directors that still allows that bozo administrator to have a job?!

[bvar22]

38. They all sit on each other's boards....

...and vote Pay Raises and Bonuses for each other.

[aquamarina]

4. I am curious - is this a for-profit hospital or a not-for-profit hospital?

[Skidmore]

7. I'm not certain anymore.

It started out early in the last century as a Catholic hospital and was sold at least twice. I'm assuming it is for-profit now but we didn't really discuss that. We only talked about the management decisions that were taking it down.

[madrchsod]

5. where in illinois?

[Skidmore]

8. West central on the river.

I don't want to get any closer than that because I don't want to make it any easier to identify my brother.

[madrchsod]

20. that`s good enough...thanks

[phantom power]

6. Two things....

1) What kind of fucked up system allows somebody else to manage his retirement funds? Why doesn't he get to manage his own funds?

2) My father in law has worked in hospitals all his life, and it seems like every single place he worked was managed just as badly as you are describing. I wonder how any hospitals stay in business.

[Skidmore]

9. I hear you. I've worked in

hospitals too where the management complained about needing to reduce services but always seemed to have money for renovations that were not related to service.

[dixiegrrrrl]

16. A lot of retirement programs are rigged so that you cannot move the funds

as long as you work for the company that has the program.
It is important to note that many non-profit retirement prograns ( called 403-B plans) were invested in AIG annuities, and as you know, annuities themeselves are like time limited CDs. You pay thru the nose if you cash in early.
My AIG annuity from my non-profit job was a 7 year plan, fortunately I was able to transfer it after I left the agency, and to get my money out of AIG before the meltdown.
Looking back, it is easy to realize how carefully the entire "Retirement Plan" was written to keep us locked into it, and what we did not lose in the 2000 dot.com bust, we lost in this one.
Timing was perfect, don't ya think?
No way will I ever ever ever believe this was not planned.

[phantom power]

22. Man, that is just so wrong...

it's like shit icing on the cake that this retard put it all in one company. Anybody dumb enough to allocate an investment portfolio in a single company shouldn't be allowed anywhere near his own money, much less anybody else's.

The fact that the single company was also AIG is like the perfect trifecta of stupidity, but it would be really terrible strategy no matter what the company was.

If I ever worked for a company that tried to tell me they were going to manage my portfolio, I'd be getting up in their grill. Don't know if I'd get anywhere, but no way would I take that lying down. I'd also be looking elswhere for a job.

[CoffeeCat]

46. Rigged...for sure...

It's just one financial disaster after another--for the middle class.

First, we're duped into financing our homes in ways that enriched the bankers and hurt us.

Then, we lose our homes, our equity and the value of our home plummets.

Then, we lose our butts in the stock market and our 401ks are toast.

Then, we start losing our jobs.

Now, people are losing their pensions and other retirement funds.

The FDIC has signaled that they are stretched to the gills. I bet we can all guess what's next to fall.

Protect yourselves people.

[ieoeja]

37. What kind of system doesn't?

Every 401(k) I have ever seen, and I once worked in the Trust Department of a Bank reporting on 401(k) plans, lets the individual select which "fund" they want their money in. But someone else managed those actual funds. Their were guidelines like one fund in energy investments, one in health or something like that. But you never knew where the money was really being invested.

The day Idiot got elected I transferred all my 401(k) to the "Short Term Gov't Guaranteed" fund. It was a good move as it lost less than any other 401(k) fund available in our plan. But I still lost almost 50% of my money. It was my (and everybody else's) understanding that plan was invested in low-paid gov't bonds. Well, the fund manager decided to do otherwise. So I got fucked.

[csziggy]

49. My husband's 401k lets him pick which fund it is invested in

Yes, he can pick out of the six or seven Vanguard funds they have selected to allow employees to consider. Before FedEx bought Kinkos, it was at Fidelity - same deal, a very restricted list to consider. I haven't even had the heart to look at how they are doing since last fall.

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. Hope ithelps your brother to know that Congress critters retirement funds

are being run by a a dodgy bank.....
I do so hope they get to share the feeling of loss,along with all of us.

[onethatcares]

21. congress share the feeling of we peons???? ain't gonna happen

they'll just write themselves another bill that makes up for whatever they lost and close their phonelines and email systems down. They just don't care about the regular folk,

[myrna minx]

13. That's just horrible.

So how big of a bonus did the administrator receive. We all know that Republicans fail upward. Sarcasm aside, I feel just terrible for the victims of these fraudsters.

My mom is 72 and is just terrified to open up her statements. *sigh*

[bvar22]

39. Democrats fail upward too.

Look at Obama's "Economic Team".

[Gregorian]

14. Sadly, don't expect sympathy from some here.

I've got my house finances in AIG. And when I posted a couple of weeks ago that much of it has vaporized, I got the cruelest response I've ever seen on this forum. Downright mean. I understand people are angry.

Man, that sucks.

I don't have a retirement plan. I put my money into my property. So I own it outright. All I need is to earn a small amount and hope that I don't get sick.

It really is a sinking feeling to lose. And if my house finances die within the next half year, I will be sitting on bare dirt without a house! Now that would be pretty bad too.

We're all in this together. Which does not help much.

[TBF]

31. "We are all in this together"

that, sadly, is the thing that many haven't realized yet - even on this website. But it is probably the most important line I've seen in this entire thread. I'm sorry to hear about your situation.

[UpInArms]

42. ...

:(

:hug:

[crikkett]

43. Hi you

I missed that post last week. Hope you're doing okay.

[Gregorian]

45. HI!

Yes. My coastal dev. permit was accepted last week. It's a daunting project.

But yes, things are going quite well. Hope the same with you!


I forgot to add that there's a nightly parade of mice through my trailer now. They've discovered me. I catch them and let them out in the morning. And they come back the next night. It's a mess. I won't have power for quite some time still. Until the appeal court of California exempts my building from the lawsuit that's going on over the stuff happening on another part of my property. Argh! It's not boring.

[progressoid]

15. I'm worried for him...and all of us.

I fear it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Much worse.

[malaise]

17. How do these people get away with stealing the pensions of

fellow citizens. :grouphug:

[Mike 03]

18. I don't understand: They invested everything 100% in AIG stock? How could that be?

On Edit:

You you really mean the pension plans were lost, who--if you know--was the counterparty?

Man, I thought we just spent billions paying off the counterparties to preserve precisely these funds???

Arghhh.

I'm so sorry for your brother, but it just sounds a bit odd.

[Last Stand]

41. kickback much? nt

[H2O Man]

19. That's terrible.

My brother on the west coast lost 85% of his. It was the money he worked for and planned to live on when he retires. He was so angry that he ended up in the hospital for chest pains. He's lucky that he has insurance.

It is a horrible way for people to be treated.

[LiberalEsto]

23. That's lousy

I hope things somehow manage to work out for him -- especially to keep his home. I wish there were ways to sue these CEOs to recover some of their loot.

My husband's retirement money was almost all in Fannie Mae stock, since he worked there for 17 years. There isn't much left. After all those 60 hour workweeks of unpaid overtime, all the weekends spent at the office, all the times he missed the kids' plays and recitals when they were growing up.

[glinda]

25. My husband's retirement is spread over three areas that are supposed to be low risk. NOT!

He started loosing a portion of his retirement a few years back and now is loosing more of it. I am totally panicky and keep telling him maybe he should just take the reminder out and pay the taxes on it. I mean, it would be better to have something rather than nothing.We are still paying on our home which I think he has now accepted we must sell. Soon.

[bbinacan]

24. I find this hard to believe.

What was it invested in?. If a variable annuity or a mutual fund run by AIG, he couldn't have lost all his money. Please provide more detail.

[Hekate]

27. Have you been listening to the news or reading the papers at all? Really, have you? nt

[high density]

34. It's a valid question

We have been propping up AIG so their insurance, annuity, and mutual fund products don't go bust. We do not have enough information about what "in AIG" means. I would assume that would be AIG mutual funds and depending on the asset allocation, those are just as tattered as everybody else's. If OP means "in AIG" as in "in AIG's stock" then that just doesn't make any sense at all.

[bbinacan]

48. Yes I have and I know

a little about this. I spent 18 years as an Investment Advisor. I hold the following: Series 7, 63, 65, 31, 24 and until recently Life. I have also handled 401k retirement plans for several companies. Do you even know what the fuck you're talking about? Really, do you? I eagerly await your reply but doubt you have the guts.

[Hekate]

50. Nice.Here's your reply: what I understand is the raw fear people have about this. You have "data"...

... everyone else has fear. They see their relatives or neighbors or friends lose what security they thought they had for reasons they don't understand, and they use shorthand, like "The Republican administrator of the hospital that he works as a facilities manager for had invested the employees retirement plans in AIG" and someone with an MBA or certificates Series 7, 63, 65, 31, 24 etc. shows up to let them know they are an ignoramus for putting it that way.

My pension for working as a staff member at the University of California for 6 or 7 years many years ago, laughable as the amount may be, is invested in something. UCRS handles it. I had nothing to say about how it was invested, unless I wanted to take the "other" plan that was more risky. I am small and they are Big. Here's what I know about that:




That's right. Moving on.

In the private sector, workers have watched one retirement plan after another tossed to the wolves, and how much say did they ever have in it? How much did they ever understand about how it was going on? What vocabulary does the average person even have to grasp and track the kind of criminality that has been going on these past 10 or 15 years?

Okay, so maybe Skidmore's brother's retirement plan still has money in it, and if you were on the case you'd be able to find it. But if Brother knows his job is hanging by a thread and the scuttlebutt is that everyone's financial security is likewise at profound risk, first you'd have to find out what the shorthand "The Republican administrator of the hospital that he works as a facilities manager for had invested the employees retirement plans in AIG" is actually shorthand for.

But my own interpretation of that phrase is exactly what Skidmore heard: We Are Screwed.

Because that's what we've been reading in the papers and seeing on the 5 o'clock news.

Hekate

[bbinacan]

51. "My brother just called to tell me that he lost his entire retirement fund this week. "

My point is that this kind of hyperbole serves no purpose.

[Red State Rebel]

36. I agree, I have an AIG Valic Account and it's OK....??

[Hekate]

26. Oh Skidmore, I'm so sorry. This is everyone's worst nightmare. I'm glad you're sticking together...

:grouphug:

Hekate

[KharmaTrain]

28. The Hard Lessons Of Diversification...

I'm sorry to hear about your brother's plight...and yours as well. I'm watching as my generation...the "boomers" are getting wiped out right and left. Many of us worked hard for 25-30 years and are seeing the money we hoped would be our safety nets (who even thinks retirement) disintegrate.

In the 80's, many of us were told that Social Security would go bust by the time we'd retire and the 401-Ks and other market-based funds were the way to go. Trust Wall Street for your future and don't ask questions...it's too "complicated". Things kicked into higher gears as the market kept going higher and those "exotic" funds with the double digit returns became just too enticing. Instead of SSI going bust, it's Wall Street that did...and it's wiping out a lifetime of hard work for many good people.

The lesson, for those who still have a few bucks left, is the importance of diversifying one's investments. It wasn't sexy to get 5 or 6 percent or have to tie the money up for a long period of time...and no guarantees this money is safe, but at this point it's a safer harbor than remaining in any market-based funds.

Here's hoping things do turn around...for you, your brother...for all of us.

Cheers...

[bvar22]

40. That is what 401Ks were SUPPOSED to do.

At least that is how they were sold to the American People.

[sarcasmo]

29. Which makes you wonder why Americans aren't burning down that Corporate headquarters?

If I lost my retirement, I would be PISSED off enough to do just what I spoke of.

[roody]

30. Protest action is going to start getting

very personal for these executives soon. I am looking forward to it.

[Fumesucker]

33. That won't happen until the cable TV is cut off..

Americans are basically anesthetized by infotainment..

I was talking to my son in law, a union memember, the other day and mentioning what is happening to the UAW at GM.. I asked him if the union members at his large shop ever talked about this kind of thing, he said they don't.

For all too many Americans it is anathema to talk about anything truly serious and for many they would rather die than learn something new.

[earth mom]

32. I'm surprised people haven't taken all their money out of the stock market by now.

It's too bad that your brother got taken by those rat bastards too, and he won't be the last no doubt. :grr:

[ieoeja]

35. These people appear to get it backwards.

"He said that there will be a protest locally this weekend at which 15,000 people will be expected to attend since local taxes are being raised while several plants which build parts for the auto industry are being closed."

I assume they know the plant closings have absolutely nothing to do with taxes. So I assume their problem is their taxes increasing as they lose their job. Yet the proposed tax increase is the first income tax increase in over 20 years. What tax has less impact on the jobless than an income tax?

Here in Illinois we have had one sales tax increase after another. My property tax increases every three years like clockwork. Lose your job or see a drop in income, and you still have to pay those tax increases. While your income tax will decrease along with your income, even if the rate is increased.

For the first time in twenty years we are looking at a tax increase that won't have much impact on most people ... and for the first time in twenty years everybody goes apeshit.

This just drives me nuts.

Note: there is also a proposed increase in personal exemption with this. So the unemployed or underemployed will even end up paying a lower rate, not just lower amount because of income decrease, than they would have last year. Everything about this tax works to the advantage of those losing their jobs. But they are still going to protest on my behalf.


Reminds me of the South seceeding over "States Rights". 100% of the time the Feds overruled the laws of a State on the subject of Slavery prior to the Civil War, it was in support of Slavery. So what would the Southern Revisionists have us believe? That the South seceeded in protest over the the Federal government abusing the States Rights of the North?

I guess, given that Poor Conservatives protest over taxing the Wealthy, but are perfectly okay when their own taxes are increased, then what the fuck, maybe the South really did.

[CoffeeCat]

44. More and more bad news about pension funds...

There was an article in the Des Moines Register last week about Iowa's pension
fund for state and municipal employees. Apparently, someone made a "bad investment"
and hundreds of millions of dollars were lost.

I can't possibly overstate how solid everyone assumed this pension fund was.

Just last month, when I was discussing the economy with a friend she said, "Well,
our financial planner told us that we were set...because we had IPERs. So we're
not worried."

Nothing...NOTHING is safe any more.

[lib2DaBone]

47. The sad part is that no one will rise up against the Bankster/Gangsters who caused this mess.