[Flying-Dutchman]

I have a SEP IRA S&P 500 retirement account and after this election am thinking about taking the 10% hit plus tax and cashing it in.

This is not out of panic due to the fiscal cliff (as this will most likely be kicked down the road).

This is not because I am in financial trouble.

I have lost faith in the judgement of the American people after this election and do not trust them not to take my retirement.

I will do it this year if I do it as taxes are going up in 2013.

Is this a good idea? I have bucked conventional wisdom in the past with good results.

[hamster]

Originally Posted by Flying-Dutchman

I have a SEP IRA S&P 500 retirement account and after this election am thinking about taking the 10% hit plus tax and cashing it in.

This is not out of panic due to the fiscal cliff (as this will most likely be kicked down the road).

This is not because I am in financial trouble.

I have lost faith in the judgement of the American people after this election and do not trust them not to take my retirement.

I will do it this year if I do it as taxes are going up in 2013.

Is this a good idea? I have bucked conventional wisdom in the past with good results.

No. Bad idea. You can easily transfer your SEP allocation to other investments (even ETFs indexing other economies) without incurring any penalty.

Talk to a fee based investment advisor before doing anything stupid.


PS. Currently my best investment advice is to pay off your house or other debts. If you pay off your 5% mortgage, you have a guaranteed rate of return on your money right there.

[Geko45]

No! The country is not coming to an end. We are in a rough patch, that is all. Nobody is going to be confiscating retirement accounts.

[Bucknasty]

Absolutely yes. For you to even ask this question leads us to believe you are of sound mind. Maybe invest in bubblegum?

[Taurus851]

do it

[gigab1te]

Sure, why not?


p.s.- I'm still going to contribute to mine, but what do I know...

[Atlas]

I would make all financial decisions with consideration to this reality:

The unfunded present value of future federal liabilities = $222 trillion

[Dennis in MA]

Absolutely! We could use the bump in the national tax base. Thank you.

[P99er]

I would. The democrats have been eying pre tax investments since Klinton. It could be that they are trying to cause an economic calamity so they can take your pre tax funds. But you'll get a social security voucher though.

Take the hit, and find an oil or gas ETF.

[Flying-Dutchman]

Originally Posted by Dennis in MA

Absolutely! We could use the bump in the national tax base. Thank you.

So no one else is thinking about this? Come on, tell me true.

I went in very close to the low after 9/11 when the Dow was in the 7K range and all the way in early 2009 when the Dow was in the high 6K range (by dumb luck and because I was mad it went so low and figured it could not go much lower). I have an iron stomach for the S&P roller coaster.

But this election rattled me a bit.

This invest for retirement and for the tax break mantra worked well in a traditional America but I have my doubts about where we will be years from now.

[Flying-Dutchman]

Originally Posted by Atlas

I would make all financial decisions with consideration to this reality:

The unfunded present value of future federal liabilities = $222 trillion

I did not even think about this only considering the political issue but this is true. Stocks might be OK but I have never purchased a bond.

[Flying-Dutchman]

Originally Posted by hamster

No. Bad idea. You can easily transfer your SEP allocation to other investments (even ETFs indexing other economies) without incurring any penalty.

Talk to a fee based investment advisor before doing anything stupid.


PS. Currently my best investment advice is to pay off your house or other debts. If you pay off your 5% mortgage, you have a guaranteed rate of return on your money right there.

If I would do this I would get out of paper and go off the grid and into gold bullion although gold is high and of course just sits there without a cash stream.

Like I said this election rattled me as I wonder what will happen in the future. The Government is going to need a lot of money and the judgement of the American people can no longer be trusted.

We are entering a new age. Maybe I am overreacting hence my thread.

I agree about getting completely out of debt. I have a mortgage and used to think debt was good with inflation but in this economy debt is extra bad.

[hamster]

If you are worried about a fiscal cliff, then "cashing in" may be a bad idea.

Originally Posted by Flying-Dutchman

I have a SEP IRA S&P 500 retirement account and after this election am thinking about taking the 10% hit plus tax and cashing it in.

This is not out of panic due to the fiscal cliff (as this will most likely be kicked down the road).

This is not because I am in financial trouble.

I have lost faith in the judgement of the American people after this election and do not trust them not to take my retirement.

I will do it this year if I do it as taxes are going up in 2013.

Is this a good idea? I have bucked conventional wisdom in the past with good results.

[DairyFresh]

The dollar is doomed, and our security is a house of cards, what else do you need to know?

[Mr.Reignman]

Originally Posted by Geko45

No! The country is not coming to an end. We are in a rough patch, that is all. Nobody is going to be confiscating retirement accounts.

*Waits for the social security arguments*

[Mr.Reignman]

Originally Posted by Flying-Dutchman

If I would do this I would get out of paper and go off the grid and into gold bullion although gold is high and of course just sits there without a cash stream.

Like I said this election rattled me as I wonder what will happen in the future. The Government is going to need a lot of money and the judgement of the American people can no longer be trusted.

We are entering a new age. Maybe I am overreacting hence my thread.

I agree about getting completely out of debt. I have a mortgage and used to think debt was good with inflation but in this economy debt is extra bad.

TBH, I think you have a fair argument and reason to be concerned. I don't think it is 100% necessary but hell, 5 years ago I didn't think having 5,000 rounds of 5.56 and some gold/silver was the farthest concern in my mind nor most people's minds for that fact so who knows whats coming.

[HollowHead]

Eerily similar to those people who cashed in everything last year because some TV preacher said the world was ending... HH

[Obi Wan]

Originally Posted by Atlas

I would make all financial decisions with consideration to this reality:

The unfunded present value of future federal liabilities = $222 trillion

IMO, this is one of the hidden elephants in the room and it's high time it got talked about.

I'm not so sure that 'going off the grid', completely, is such a bad idea...

[Glocksanity]

Cash out. Buy gold. Sleep well. Real simple.

[jpa]

Stock up on toilet paper and bottled water. Best investment advice ever.

[Glock20 10mm]

Originally Posted by Obi Wan

IMO, this is one of the hidden elephants in the room and it's high time it got talked about.

I'm not so sure that 'going off the grid', completely, is such a bad idea...

It takes substantial capital to get there, but once off grid and set-up it's pretty easy. You have to make some adjustments but most are minor changes in habits.

[ray9898]

I would cash it in any buy cans of Spam. The bartering ability when the sky falls will be amazing.

[Carrys]

Originally Posted by Mr.Reignman

*Waits for the social security arguments*

Only two types of people in the US, those who want to drink the milk for free.......

........and the milk cows.


We have been shown which group is larger.


My only happy thought, one day.....maybe a long way off, I don't know....but one day the milk will dry up. Then our society will see the milk drinkers for the infection they are. I'll be gone, but I'll go understanding our society will eliminate the infection.

My job now......forget about my Country during the life I have left , I've sacrificed enough of my body, been wounded enough, and worked as hard as I could to prevent the change in paths we've taken. My job now is to ensure my family will/can make it when wqw turn into Greece, which we most certainly will. Can't go any other way now, can't.

Originally Posted by HollowHead

Eerily similar to those people who cashed in everything last year because some TV preacher said the world was ending... HH

How so?

In the one event people followed the direction of someone, someone they've learned to let lead them because they didn't want to lead themselves.

In this case it's one person wondering if he should do something he himself thought of.


Pretty weak reach there my man.

[walt cowan]

transfer it to an offshore account. iceland seems to have their banks in order.

[unit1069]

Originally Posted by Flying-Dutchman

I have a SEP IRA S&P 500 retirement account and after this election am thinking about taking the 10% hit plus tax and cashing it in.

Why can't you just sell the investment portfolio and keep cash (or cash equivalent) within the SEP IRA to avoid the penalty?