Wednesday, October 22, 2008

A reason not to invest in pensions?

Argentina appears to be planning to seize private pension funds. Who is to say that, in extremis, it couldn't happen here? They're already taking tax on the dividends that were tax-free until 1997.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What happens if everyone over 50 tries to get their lump sums out in a panic?

Nick Drew said...

FDR's seizure of privately-held gold in the USA also gives one pause for thought

Sackerson said...

DM: shhh...

ND: see DM above. Perhaps it should be in some more portable/transmissible form - a sum in a bank that could be wired abroad and converted to foreign currency while the Great Dictator is still addressing the House. But even better, do what Onassis did - have stashes put away in different countries, just in case. He never forgot his family's flight from Smyrna in 1922 when the Turks invaded.

Nick Drew said...

Sackers, I suspect this alone wouldn't do the trick (unless you also planned to do a bunk) because I presume the govt would pass laws requiring you to hand over anything you owned, wherever

I realise the bunk scenario was indeed part of the Onassis thinking

Sackerson said...

Nick, If you're prepared to run away, you should also be prepared to lie.