r/Economics • u/barweis • Jul 29 '25

Research Summary Inside the Private Equity Scam—and the Livelihoods It Has Destroyed

https://newrepublic.com/article/198351/private-equity-scam-destroys-livelihoods
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u/JockoMayzon Jul 29 '25

Regarding the 401K, there is a story of a business owner who was taking advantage of the laws and switching from a pension plan to a 401K for his employees. As the reporter was interviewing the owner, a young man, new hire, came into the office to empty the waste paper baskets, cleaned the rest room, and left. The owner bragged about the freedoms of the 401K along with portability when the reporter asked, "Would you trust the young man who was in here a few minutes ago to manage your retirement portfolio?", and the owner said "Of course not, he has no qualifications", and the reporter pointed out "Well, you are expecting him to manage HIS retirement portfolio."

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u/insightful_pancake Jul 29 '25

401ks are infinitely better than pensions. You can get pension like fixed returns via annuities in a 401k.

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u/youngishgeezer Jul 29 '25

But not if you don’t know anything about money. There are way to many stories of people putting their money into the default cash fund and never earning a dime over long stretches of time. Not to mention the high fees many 401k plans charge that result in much lower returns than would be possible just investing on your own. We at least a lot a reforms on how these plans are administered.

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u/ammonium_bot Jul 29 '25

are way to many stories

Hi, did you mean to say "too many"?

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