President Biden is threatening the returns of 401(k) savings accounts, risking millions of workers’ comfortable retirements.
If you put money into a 401(k), beware. Until now, the law always required fund managers entrusted with your savings to invest the money where it’s expected to get the top profit for you. Period.
But late last month, Biden’s Labor Department announced a rule change that goes into effect at the end of January. [emphasis, links added]
It will allow fund managers to invest your money in the stocks of companies that favor left-wing policies, even if they earn a lower return.
It’s legalized theft. The future earnings on your retirement nest egg are being sacrificed to advance a woke agenda.
A lower return means you’ll have to work more years before retiring or start putting more into your 401(k) — or settle for a lesser standard of living in the final years of your life.
Biden’s rule paves the way for your 401(k) savings to be put into what are called ESG funds. But you can stop it from happening if you’re vigilant.
What is ESG? E stands for environment, S for social justice, and G for governance, meaning who gets hired or put on the company board.
ESG funds generally invest in companies that oppose fossil fuels, support unionization, and stress gender and racial diversity over merit.
From the worker’s point of view, ESG stands for Expect Slower Growth. These funds charge higher fees and often produce lower returns, especially now when oil company profits and stocks are soaring while the tech companies that ESG funds tend to favor are doing poorly.
Two aspects of the Labor Department’s rule should cause you to worry. Both reverse worker safeguards the Trump administration adopted.
First, Donald Trump’s Labor Department stated that fund managers are obliged to put “pecuniary” considerations above other issues, such as politics.
They could consider “non-pecuniary” issues only as a tie-breaker when two companies pose the same risks and opportunities for investors.
Biden’s Labor Department eliminated that standard, saying it had a “chilling effect” on ESG sales.
The Biden rule says 401(k) managers “are not prohibited from selecting the investment, or investment course of action, based on collateral benefits other than investment returns.”
Politics can take priority. The regulation cites Biden’s goal to “prioritize both environmental justice and the creation” of “well-paying union jobs.”
The rule blathers on about the vague benefits of unionization. But the authors produce zero evidence that unions improve returns for investors.
Only 9% of the US private-sector workforce is unionized. Biden is determined to increase that by making the $6.8 trillion held by 401(k) plans more available to union companies than non-union ones.
The second worrisome switch is that Biden makes ESG funds eligible to be the “default” fund when a worker doesn’t choose one. The Trump administration banned that. Biden’s rule will push more workers unwittingly into these funds.
Biden’s doing an end run around democracy, trying to change corporate America without having to pass laws in Congress.
Companies need investment capital. The more 401(k) money is controlled by ESG funds, the more pressure can be put on companies to adopt the ESG agenda — climate change, diversity, and unionization — whether they like it or not. Biden’s buddies on Wall Street will do the financial arm-twisting.
Democrats invented ballot harvesting. Now they’re on to 401(k) harvesting.
Read rest at NY Post
My wife and I had our annual meeting with our financial advisor just yesterday and I asked about ESG. He said that he follows our directions on what we want (some clients may not want to invest in tobacco companies, etc.) and that ESG is not something he’s interested in. Our money is all in IRAs or taxable accounts so we are not limited in where we can have our money can be invested.
“Only 9% of the US private-sector workforce is unionized.”
What percentage of government employees are unionized, at Federal, State, County and City levels? I don’t have a clue. Anyone know?
In Canada I’ll guess that the entire public service is either salaried or unionized. For example, Toronto only accepts bids on contracts from unionized companies. Non union? Don’t apply. Ontario compiles an annual list of government employees who pull in $100,000 or more. It’s called the Sunshine List, and it’s so long and dense that it has lost its purpose, except to underline why Canada consistently elects the Left wing . They’re for BIG GOVERNMENT, and the Right is all about small government.
You don’t need to use firearms to commit a a robbery Biden and his fellow Democrats do it the easy way