Comments on: 10-year TIPS auction yield is 1.43%

by: Tom Adams

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:11:10 +0000

Greg - It was the Clinton administration that brought in the Wall Street Gang. The Bush years made it even worse by appointing Henry Paulson - former Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs - as Secretary of the Treasury and by not regulating anything. And I agree with you that the Obama administration - for all it's claims of change - has nothing to be proud of in this area. You are also correct that I may have confused criticism and distorted facts with hate. Steve - Your link to the Federal Employee Retirement System benefit overview is interesting, but the "typical government employee" doesn't work for the federal government, but for state and local governments and school districts. Moreover, as Greg points out, these benefits are equivalent to the private sector's retirement benefits, not to Social Security. Both the private sector and the public get SS on top of the retirement benefits provided by the employer. Kevin - If you are talking about moving a large sum of money from some other investment into TIPS, I don't know if now is a good time. If you are talking about beginning to make regular monthly investments in a TIPS fund as part of an overall investment strategy, yes, now is a good time. Tom Adams

by: kevin

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:22:00 +0000

tom, do you think now is a good time to invest in a tips mutual fund

by: Steve

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:52:33 +0000

http://opm.gov/forms/pdfimage/RI90-1.pdf

by: greg

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:01:06 +0000

As a civil service employee hired before 1984 I will be eligible for a fully taxed pro-rated pension at age 55. Some law enforcement and military people can retire earlier. In 1984 the vast majority of federal employees are under the FERS retirement system which combines a limited federal pension with social security the need to work until 62 to get a pension I blame Obama and the Dem controlled congress for bringing in the Goldman Sachs /Wall street gang to keep Wall Street not Main Street in control of our nations financial system. Lets not confuse criticism and distorted facts with hate. PS.The average federal pension is no way near 75K At 30 years service one would get 56% of hi 3yr base pay. A govt pension is in fact much more generous than social security however combine social security and a private pension/profit sharing program private sector plans are often better

by: Tom Adams

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:58:35 +0000

Patty - I apologize for saying that your first statement was wrong. Although you can continue to increase your SS benefit by retiring after 67, you are correct that the SSA calls 67 "full retirement age."

But I was hoping you'd provide references for the rest of your statements.

I believe they are misinformation because, for example, my sister is a government employee. She's a teacher. None of the other facts in your message apply to her.

Do they apply to people in the armed forces? Do they apply to the police or firemen in your town?

To get back on the topic of Savings Bonds - Savings Bonds make up a tiny percentage of the US debt. Most of the debt is held by foreign countries.

There are a lot of reasons for you and those foreign countries to be worried that you won't get your money back, but I'd put the benefits of government workers near the bottom of the list.

What most concerns me is that the financial system has captured the government. Capitalism has been defined as greed rather than trust. Personally, I place the blame for this squarely on the Bush administration and the Republican congress of that time.

Tom Adams

by: Patty

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:36:57 +0000

Hi Tom,
My error. What I should have said is that for people born after 1960…the "full retirement age" (as the Social Security Dept. refers to it) is age 67. See link below for details.

http://www.ssa.gov/retire2/agereduction.htm