Pension Confiscation: US Edition

Resource starved governments from different parts of the world have either nationalized (at various degrees) or raided the pension industry in order to finance budget deficits or to attain various political goals. Some examples: Poland, Hungary, Ireland, Bulgaria and Ireland, Argentina (fully nationalized), in Spain retirement funds had been used to buy Spanish government debts, and in the Philippines where government pension have been used to prop up the stock market

Well, the US government seems likewise headed in that direction. This via President Obama’s “new retirement-savings vehicle aimed at workers who don't have access to traditional retirement accounts” through his new "myRAs" which he announced during his latest State of the Union address

Sovereign Man’s prolific Simon Black explains further

This is his new “MyRA” program. And the aim is simple– dupe unwitting Americans to plow their retirement savings into the US government’s shrinking coffers.

We’ve been talking about this for years. I have personally written since 2009 that the US government would one day push US citizens into the ‘safety and security’ of US Treasuries.

Back in 2009, almost everyone else thought I was nuts for even suggesting something so sacrilegious about the US government and financial system.

But the day has arrived. And POTUS stated almost VERBATIM what I have been writing for years.

The government is flat broke. Even by their own assessment, the US government’s “net worth” is NEGATIVE 16 trillion. That’s as of the end of 2012 (the 2013 numbers aren’t out yet). But the trend is actually worsening.

In 2009, the government’s net worth was negative $11.45 trillion. By 2010, it had dropped to minus $13.47 trillion. By 2011, minus $14.78 trillion. And by 2012, minus $16.1 trillion.

Here’s the thing: according to the IRS, there is well over $5 trillion in US individual retirement accounts. For a government as bankrupt as Uncle Sam is, $5 trillion is irresistible.

They need that money. They need YOUR money. And this MyRA program is the critical first step to corralling your hard earned retirement funds.

Pensions first? Bank deposits and rigid capital controls next? Will gold be banned too?