Loosing Retirement Money.

well, my 401K is with Merrill Lynch and we are being told that our money is safe. I worry though as I don't see how it possibly can be. Why doesn't someone step in and investigate all of these companies that have CEO's that are making more money than 100 working citizens and find out why so many companies like this are going bankrupt and what we can do to prevent these kinds of problems in the future. It is sad that we can't look forward to a retirement.

Makes me sort of glad that I do not have a 410k program I do have a tax sheltered annuity that probably is going to go into the toilet with the way things are going. Guess it is a good thing I never had big plans for that money when I reached 59 1/2 because it certainly isn't going to be anything big now. What the heck is wrong with them folks on Wall Street anyway?

The little person can't win, the rich and ultra rich take what they want and don't have to be responsible for doing it.. I know there is so much that I don't understand about big finance, but the one thing that I do understand is that the majority of the "rich and ultra rich" don't go broke.. They do continue to have money, they are not poor, they have no worries, they take their share first and then if there is anything left, maybe then and only then is your money still your money.. Take the example of the oil companies, they say their expenses are in the billions of dollars, but their profits are in the billions of dollar also.. When we are struggling to buy a tankful of gas and their profits are almost 40 BILLION in the first quarter, there is something wrong.. We need answers but we will not get them.. It is a shame we don't know any of the presidential candidates, we could be an ambassador to some country or the other and have a huge income off of that, but you have to have donated a ton of money to them for their campaign to get appointed to be an ambassador, but if you could, you would be set for life.. Isn't it odd that the persons we are paying to protect us are getting richer and richer while we are working our behinds off and getting poorer and poorer, no matter what..

Hi Chevee, It seems to be getting worse these days, how do people cope in America today with all this going on? I really hope you will find some sort of solutions to all your problem. Hugs Tamaara

i never wanted to touch my money until i was 65. now i'm 60-1/2 and i've cashed in a 401K already. it's gone and i'm going to have to cash in another to get me through the next 6 months so that i can get a much lower SS monthly payment. because i'm taping into it early, will it last until i am an angel? it's too late for me. but, not too late for you. i know nothing about investments, CD and the like. i'd buy myself finances for dummies, or something like that. i have a list of programs, online, which are totally free. it's under my other account. i'll send them to you via PM. everything is going crazy. price of food. price of gas. heating fuel this winter will be going up. who'd ever think that fannie mae would have these problems? who'd ever think so many banks are going belly up. when is it going to end?