Joe Biden might think the economy is "as strong as hell" but the reality shows something very different.
The New York Post is reporting that the average American's 401k is down $34,000 in Joe Biden's "strong as hell" economy.
Not surprisingly, since President Biden took office, monthly savings have collapsed, falling 83%. (We could never understand how Biden could say with a straight face that Americans are saving more. His "transformation" of the US economy has had just the opposite effect.) Many millions of Americans who are living paycheck to paycheck just don't have the money after paying the inflated bills to save much.
But to add insult to injury, even what has been already saved and invested by older Americans over past years and even over several decades has been erased from these accounts.
Thanks to the thief of inflation.
No wonder nearly 1 in 4 Americans are now planning to delay retirement or not retire at all.
More from the Post:
Tie it all together and we calculate that since the start of this year, 401(k) plans have suffered $2.1 trillion in losses. The average 401(k) plan had over $135,000 at the start of this year. Today, those assets have shrunk on average to about $101,000.In other words, the average 401(k) plan is down about $34,000 — more than 25% in less than one year!
(In terms of purchasing power, inflation also has brought the "real value," in 2021 dollars, of the average 401(k) down another $5,000, from $101,000 to $96,000.)
Let's say you are doing a little better than average financially and you have a 401(k) plan with $300,000 saved up. You're still far from "rich." Your nest egg losses this year are likely to be above $75,000.
I personally know many, many people who are hurting and putting off retiring thanks to Biden's "best economy ever."
More traditional pension funds also are getting flattened by inflation. At the beginning of this year, pensions in the US had $27.8 trillion in assets. Now, it's under $24 trillion, a drop of about 15% that has wiped out the last two years' worth of gains — nearly $4 trillion.Many union and government pension funds were already facing financial shortfalls to be able to pay promised benefits. The combination of high inflation and a bear market in stocks means insolvency is a real threat. Some may need bailouts or will have to sharply cut promised benefits.
A year ago, the White House insultingly tweeted out that inflation is merely "a high-class problem." Wrong. The victims of ever higher prices at the store and the gas pump are not the millionaires, but the little guys — and, in particular, older Americans — whose paychecks and savings accounts get walloped.
