I'm retiring in about three weeks, so with the U.S. banking crisis spreading around the world, you can imagine my anxiety.
A few years ago, I had moved retirement money in my 401(k) account into a variety of mutual funds from just one that was designed for anyone retiring in 2010, which is considered to be very safe. The banking implosion led me to wonder if I had done the right thing.
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As a former newspaperman who covered city government in places like Philadelphia and Hoboken, N.J., skepticism has become another appendage for me, like an arm or a leg. And I've always been skeptical about President Bush's attempt to deregulate any industry that moves. To me, even the most honest of people have to be watched when it comes to a till of money that needs protection.
I noticed that I've been checking my 401(k) account a lot more often the past two weeks. And I've already told my wife to make sure I never land in a nursing home (I've covered the bankruptcies in that industry), knowing that government oversight on things such as staffing requirements is often lacking.
I now have a much better understanding of those ol' timers who weathered the Great Depression who often told me that they never trusted the banks again.
Naturally, it also doesn't help that I'm hearing things such as, "It's not the beginning of the end" but just "The end of the beginning."
Granted, the American Bankers Association has said that it believes mutual funds are safe. And there's talk about the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. providing protection to the small investor on mutual funds.
But let's face it, the banking bailout, and the fate of my pension funds, are in the hands of politicians now, a group increasingly dependent on lobbyists' largess, not citizen satisfaction.
It's a scary thought, but I've taken consolation in the fact that I knew what I was getting myself into, that there's an element of chance with anyone's 401(k). I'm just hoping it all works out in the end.
- Terry Brennan.
