401(k)-s: Corroding Golden Years for Retirees?

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Many workers don-t stay with the same company long enough to qualify for so-called -defined benefit- plans any more. So 401(k)-s were devised for mobility and to give workers more freedom. The plans, which are tax deferred, also allow millions of workers to take advantage of the stock market boom. But now, after 15 years of an unprecedented boom, the air-s gone out of the bubble, and many contend that the comfortable retirement promised by 401(k)-s was a fraud. We talk to the man who invented 401(k)-s, a former Federal Reserve Board economist, investment analysts and others about what to do now. Newsmaker: Military Wives Killed by Returning Special Ops In Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the Army is investigating a series of recent murders in which four soldiers have been accused of killing their wives. Three of the four recently had returned to the Special Forces headquarters from duty in Afghanistan. Martha Quillin, of the Raleigh News and Observer, says that with no histories of domestic violence, the military is searching for a link to the soldiers- duties abroad. Reporter's Notebook: Fast Food Lawsuits Breeding Popular Cash Cow An overweight Bronx man who has had two heart attacks and suffers from diabetes has initiated a class-action lawsuit against four fast-food chains, saying they misled him into thinking he was eating healthy food. His lawyer says that millions more junk are eligible to get in on the action. George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley has written about eating and suing, an increasingly popular American comb-pastime.
Many workers don-t stay with the same company long enough to qualify for so-called -defined benefit- plans any more. So 401(k)-s were devised for mobility and to give workers more freedom. The plans, which are tax deferred, also allow millions of workers to take advantage of the stock market boom. But now, after 15 years of an unprecedented boom, the air-s gone out of the bubble, and many contend that the comfortable retirement promised by 401(k)-s was a fraud. We talk to the man who invented 401(k)-s, a former Federal Reserve Board economist, investment analysts and others about what to do now.
  • Newsmaker: Military Wives Killed by Returning Special Ops
    In Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the Army is investigating a series of recent murders in which four soldiers have been accused of killing their wives. Three of the four recently had returned to the Special Forces headquarters from duty in Afghanistan. Martha Quillin, of the Raleigh News and Observer, says that with no histories of domestic violence, the military is searching for a link to the soldiers- duties abroad.
  • Reporter's Notebook: Fast Food Lawsuits Breeding Popular Cash Cow
    An overweight Bronx man who has had two heart attacks and suffers from diabetes has initiated a class-action lawsuit against four fast-food chains, saying they misled him into thinking he was eating healthy food. His lawyer says that millions more junk are eligible to get in on the action. George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley has written about eating and suing, an increasingly popular American comb-pastime.

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Host:

Warren Olney