what's 401k? please explain to a european.?

Question

401k or retirement plan.what is it and how much,if so, the state helps.

Answer 1

something that most Americans don't use..........cause
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they.................broke!

funny...more value in a persons mouth(gold cap) than their pocket!

8.6 trillion is the US national debt borrowed by the general fund the highest ever in history.
The US dollar keep declining it's time to start recognizing the early warning signs of a gathering storm regarding the strength and the stability of the United States. Spending programs such as war and civil servants, health, education, welfare, urban renewal, and the like, should come from taxing at first the wealth and income. But instead, the Government adopted the philosophy of cutting taxes to boost economic growth. It does not work!
The National Debt: Printed by the US Mint.
1910 2.6 (billions)
1920 25.9
1930 16.2
1940 43.0
1950 257.4
1960 290.2
1970 389.2
1980 930.2
1990 3,233.3
2000 5,674.2
2005 7,932.7
2006 8,506.9 (trillion)
Income taxes were/are cut, and has not create more money for the economy to grow, instead the US Mint has to print more and more money, which gives it to the Fed Reserve, which gives it to the White House, to pay for the countries programs (and whatever). And the process is repeated, over and over again. The more money gets printed, the more money goes in circulation, which chase the same items. It is that creation of money that visibly raises goods prices and lowers the purchasing power of money. Inflation is defined here as the creation of new money by monetary authorities, i.e, the US Mint.
More credit was needed by regular Americans to make the necessary purchases.
Consumer debt increased by $434 billion, from $839 billion in 1993 to $1,273 billion in 1996.
1996 - 1.2738 trillion
1997 - $1.3449
1998 - $1.4421
1999 - $1.5563
2000 - $1.7358
2001 - $1.8690
2002 - $1.9527
2003 - $2.0344
2004 - $2.1206
2005 - $2.1780
2006 Qtr 1 - $2.1900 trillion
House Mortgages - Outstanding

Foreigners own over $8.2 trillion of assets in the USA. Equities on the US stock market are at historically high PE ratios, some 3 times above the norm and twice the level of PE ratios on foreign stock markets. Real estate looks as it has peaked. Especially with arise in interest rates in prospect? Here's where the "point of recognition" becomes important.
Foreigners will, firstly, consider how far the dollar will depreciate against their home currency over the next 12 months. Could it be a 5%, 10%, 15%, drop? Then the question is: "Can USA assets rise by 15% to compensate for the currency loss and leave the investor in a level, no win, no loss situation?" The answer seems to be a clear "No".
Foreigners/Americans with large sums of money at risk are quietly taking profits out of the US market, US unbacked dollars is being used to bolster the market indices so the average investor (US and foreign alike) are kept blind to what is about to hit them.
This disaster-to-come has been created artificially by (a) politicians' selfish desires to portray a financially healthy US economy for the advancement of their own political careers, (b) to benefit small, united groups of unscrupulous, rich, and over-speculative investors that make significant (and often wrong) investment decisions but also make significant campaign contributions, (c) refusing to warn the populous regarding the outcome of consistently over printing US unbacked dollars.
Inflation, has become your new tax. See here below, and know if the tax cuts benefitted you.
The top 1% of households own almost 40% of the nation's wealth.
The top 4% of Americans own 60% of the nation's wealth.
The top 10% of Americans own over 70% of nation's wealth.
The top 20% of the nation's households own 85% of the nation's total wealth.
The bottom 40% of households own one-fifth of 1% (or 0.2%) of the nation's wealth.
The bottom 60% of Americans own only 5% of the nation's wealth.
The bottom 80% of Americans own only 15% of the nation's wealth.
The total wealth in America totals $27 trillion dollars.
(Wolff, 2000)
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but if they did have a dollar to put away for retirement......a 401k would be a good way to go.......cause the money is only tax when you take it out.

Answer 2

It is in fact your money, but by putting it in a 401k you have chosen to invest it in the open market. As part of setting up your 401k, and your on-going maintenance of it, you select mutual funds which are a collection of stocks and other investments on the market. If the value of those investments goes down then the value of your 401k goes down. Of course, on the other side, if they go up then so does you income. The big advantage of a 401k is that you put the money in before you pay taxes on it. For example, if you put $1,000 in pre-tax and the market goes up 10% you have $1,100 dollars. If you don't put the money in a 401k the you pay taxes on it and only have say $800 to invest. If you invest that and it grows 10% you'd only have $880. A 401k therefore is a great method to invest if it is available.

Answer 3

It is a fund that allows you to invest your money tax free. Investments range depending on the company sponsoring the fund. Generally you will have stock mutual funds, bond funds and interest funds available to you. You can put up to a set amount of your money in each year. You can not draw on the fund until you reach the age of 55 without a 10 percent penalty.

Some of the better companies will match your contribution with an equal amount to help you save for retirement. It is not a requirement so not all companies match.

The theory is that if you invest your money in stocks you should make 8 percent a year in interest and at the time of your retirement your tax burden will be less so you should end up with money to compensation the lack of funds Social Security will be able to provide.

Answer 4

It is a retirement plan that the tax law allows an employer to establish. The funds go into the account before income taxes are paid, the earnings in the investments are tax free each year and all of the money is taxable as the employee takes distributions at retirement.
Employers can put money into the account each year for each participant in the plan. The employees can elect each year to put money into the accounts each year by electing to reduce their wages. Currently an employee can elect to defer up to $15,500 of their wages into the accounts.

Answer 5

simply put it's a before tax savings account offered by companies. Allowing employees the ability to have money automatically taken from their paychecks and invested for them without any CURRENT tax implications. All taxes involved with the account are postponed until the money is withdrawn.

Answer 6

Bob Hikes is wrong. It is not tax free. A 401k is TAX DEFERRED. You pay taxes on the money when you take it out. If you take the money out before you are 59.5, you also pay a 10% penalty.

Answer 7

401k is £401,000.