Welcome to the end of the week and another edition of Happy Hour! Just sit back, relax, and enjoy your end of the week roundup of all things interesting in the land of money.
Fed Email List
The cats out of the bag! The Federal Reserve has a super secret email list that gets the FOMC minutes early. It’s about 100 people to be exact, including Congressional staff and trade groups. While the leak was brushed off as a simple mistake, it doesn’t explain the secret email list.
Why a select group of people are getting FOMC minutes before everyone else is beyond me. It certainly doesn’t erase the “market is rigged” sentiment. Of course, no one would take advantage of said information either. Right?
The idiocy out of Washington continues…
IRA Caps
The White House finally released its 2014 budget proposal this week. Like anything political, its full of wishful thinking until it’s actually passed by Congress. So take it with a grain of salt.
That said, one piece did make big news about caps to IRAs and, possibly, other retirement accounts. I say possibly because the budget isn’t really clear if 401k’s, pensions, or Roth IRAs would be included.
A cap on IRAs is nothing new. But this sets a bad precedent. Should the proposal go through, a $3 million cap would be placed on tax-free retirement accounts. Anything above that would be taxed. It continues the White House’s idiotic push for higher taxes on the wealthy. Only it attacks savers. Something we need more of in this country.
Basically, it allows the government to decide what is an acceptable retirement income. It would open the door to what many people have speculated and worry about – changing existing laws on Roth IRAs, muni bonds, and any other tax advantaged asset or account when the government is short on tax revenue.
Keep in mind, this is only a proposal, a terrible one at that, and still needs to be passed by Congress. It’s one worth keeping a close eye on, though.
Last Call
- Obama Proposes $3 Million Cap on IRAs – more info on IRA caps.
- Obama Targets “Wealthy” IRA Accounts – still more.
- Some Advisors Oppose Obama’s Retirement Savings Cap – last one, promise.
- Charlie Munger Reveals Secrets to Getting Rich – a short BBC interview worth watching.
- Notes from the DoubleLine Lunch with Jeffrey Gundlach – great notes from the “Why Own Any Bonds At All” presentation. There’s a little bit for everyone – stocks, bonds, economy, Japan, etc.