Thread: How the Brexit affects your retirement fund

How Brexit could affect Americans | WBMA - ABC 33/40


Those with a 401-k plan could be hardest hit by the Brexit impact. The vote ... The vote could trigger a global ripple effect for retirement savings...

That's important for anyone's 401-k retirement portfolio. "It would affect it but it depends on if it is diversified between stocks and bonds. Stocks would go down but bonds would rise, so it depends on those two asset classes. If they are in one or the other, there will be more volatility in there."

Right now all of this is a guessing game...depending on the votes...the outcome will be clearer in the days ahead. Hellwig stated the way the market looked on Thursday, all signs should point to the U.K. staying in the 28-member nations of politico-economic union.

He mentioned that while stocks will be negatively affected, many who have money in the stock market will be rapidly selling if Britain does leave the U.K. He said that's not entirely bad because while the stock is devalued, Americans can purchase a stock for a cheaper price and possibly create a better portfolio.

All conjecture, all guesswork, no news, just blah blah blah. A nation leaving a trade union is not a bad thing, it's a good thing. If your retirement savings goes down because someone or in this case, an entire nation, did a good thing, you need a different investment strategy. Just saying.

So how many people actually have a retirement account in the US?

According to this study in May 2015, only about 1/3 of American households have any retirement savings account of any size or amount. That means 2/3 have nothing.

http://fundreference.com/articles/20...savings-stats/

According to a 2015 survey by the Investment Company Institute, only about one-third of U.S. households have any type of IRA. The number of households with an IRA increased by just 0.6 percent annually between 2000 and 2014.

Seems this thread is about ready to be locked as some of the comments are getting rather personal. Time will tell how this will all work out so let's leave it at that for now....

As a 17 year veteran of Wall Street, great move Jean.

Retirement funds are regulated by the government for tax purposes only. The government allows you to invest your money tax-free and accumululate gains and income tax-free as well, but when it is time for withdrawels, they want their piece, hence the regulations.

As far as performance, your assets are invested based upon your objectives and risk-tolerence. The government does not guarantee performance and it is perfectly legal to invest in anything that is IRA eligable. Many people in the past invested their IRA money into ideas like ENRON and Bernie Mattoff's funds legally (made money for a while). When the entities went Chapter 11, the investors were left with nothing. No guarantees and fully regulated. Just paper losses and wealth devastation for years to come. Only debt issued by US government is guaranteed for the most part.

Markets go up and down all the time, but yesterday had nothing to do with the small investor (aside from paper losses). The move came as a surprise to the markets which rarely happens. The markets always get it right not people. It was the eighth largest point loss for the Dow in its histroy. Most of the carnage in US equities was shouldered by the US banks, multinationals and companies like CAT. The pound was destroyed and selling begets selling until affected leveraged positions are unwinded. This is very complicated for even them (US firms) and they will figure out how to conduct business with the rest of the European Union while their operations for the EU are mostly based in Great Britain. No more from me on this!

Trump Tries to Play Down Americans' Fear of Brexit Fallout

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS JUNE 25, 2016, 11:46 A.M. E.D.T.

ABERDEENSHIRE, Scotland — Donald Trump is trying to play down Americans' fears about the possible financial fallout from the United Kingdom's vote to leave the European Union.

The U.S. stock market and global markets plunged in the wake of Thursday's "leave" vote, and that's led to worries about Americans' retirement plans and savings.

Trump was visiting one of his golf resorts on Saturday, outside Aberdeen, Scotland, and he offered this assessment for his countrymen: "This shouldn't even affect them, frankly, if it's done properly, if we had proper leadership."

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee later told reporters that the stock market's fall on Friday was due to Wall Street's worries about President Barack Obama's economic policies and the U.S. debt.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016...-scotland.html

Originally Posted by joe s

As a 17 year veteran of Wall Street, great move Jean.

Retirement funds are regulated by the government for tax purposes only. The government allows you to invest your money tax-free and accumululate gains and income tax-free as well, but when it is time for withdrawels, they want their piece, hence the regulations.

As far as performance, your assets are invested based upon your objectives and risk-tolerence. The government does not guarantee performance and it is perfectly legal to invest in anything that is IRA eligable. Many people in the past invested their IRA money into ideas like ENRON and Bernie Mattoff's funds legally (made money for a while). When the entities went Chapter 11, the investors were left with nothing. No guarantees and fully regulated. Just paper losses and wealth devastation for years to come. Only debt issued by US government is guaranteed for the most part.

Markets go up and down all the time, but yesterday had nothing to do with the small investor (aside from paper losses). The move came as a surprise to the markets which rarely happens. The markets always get it right not people. It was the eighth largest point loss for the Dow in its histroy. Most of the carnage in US equities was shouldered by the US banks, multinationals and companies like CAT. The pound was destroyed and selling begets selling until affected leveraged positions are unwinded. This is very complicated for even them (US firms) and they will figure out how to conduct business with the rest of the European Union while their operations for the EU are mostly based in Great Britain. No more from me on this!

As they say: "Facts is facts."

Stocks, Pound Futures Fall as Markets Await Brexit Fallout

ABC News

- ‎16 minutes ago‎

Stocks fell in the Middle East, British pound futures fell versus the dollar, and U.S. shares appeared headed for a lower opening on the first full day of trading since global markets plunged after Britain's vote to exit the European Union ...

The Brexit blockers: Bitter losers from all parties gang up to plot to stop Britain's exit from the EU - which was voted for by 17 million people

British and European politicians are plotting to block UK's exit from the EU

As Labour went into meltdown, campaign started for a second referendum

Tony Blair, Nicola Sturgeon, and pro-Remain MPs said rethink was needed

A top Brussels diplomat has said he thinks the UK will never quit the union

By JAMES SLACK POLITICAL EDITOR FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 22:40 GMT, 26 June 2016 | UPDATED: 10:23 GMT, 27 June 2016

British and European politicians are plotting to block the UK’s exit from the EU.

On a chaotic day in which the Labour Party went into meltdown, a campaign was started to force a second referendum.

Tony Blair, Nicola Sturgeon, some pro-Remain MPs and a senior German official said a rethink was needed now the consequences of quitting the Brussels club were clear.

Twenty one Labour frontbenchers have now resigned in a bid to replace Jeremy Corbyn with a pro-EU party leader.

The plotters hope a general election can be held later this year before the start of the formal process of quitting. Last Thursday’s referendum could then be reversed.

In further developments:

• Theresa May prepared to take on Boris Johnson for the right to win the race to succeed David Cameron as prime minister within the new few months;
• Mr Corbyn, who sacked Hilary Benn for disloyalty, claimed he was going nowhere, despite failing to even secure the backing of his own deputy, Tom Watson;
• George Osborne announced he will give a statement today to ‘provide reassurance about financial and economic stability’;
• The Chancellor, who had not been seen since the referendum result, is to stay in post to ‘protect the national interest’;
• In a surprise move, talks have also begun for him to join a Boris Johnson leadership ‘dream ticket’ alongside Michael Gove;
• A petition calling for a second referendum was placed under investigation after 77,000 signatures were found to be fraudulent.

Meanwhile, top figures in Brussels have questioned whether Britain will ever quit the union, with a senior diplomat saying the divorce process will probably be delayed and then ditched.

Iain Duncan Smith said the Europhiles were ‘bad losers’ yesterday.

Mr Duncan Smith said the bid by the political elite to frustrate the will of the people was an ‘anti-democratic joke’.

‘There is a lot of bad losing here from the Europhiles,’ the former Tory leader told the Mail. ‘This was one of the biggest turnouts since the war and there is no justification for a second referendum whatsoever.’

But Philip Hammond, who campaigned for Remain, insisted yesterday that Britain would have to sign up again to the European single market or face catastrophic consequences.

The Foreign Secretary said this could mean having to accept continued freedom of movement.
A string of senior figures in Britain and Europe yesterday attempted to undermine the democratic will of the British people by sabotaging Brexit.

BRUSSELS DON'T BELIEVE THE UK WILL GO THROUGH WITH DIVORCE
Top figures in Brussels don't believe Britain will go through with leaving the EU, with diplomats questioning whether the UK will ever trigger the formal divorce process.
A country leaving the union must formally notify the European Council, setting the clock ticking on a two-year period to negotiate its split.
But a senior EU diplomat said last night that he believes the UK will never actual embark on the move and will end up staying in the union.
'We want London to trigger Article 50 now, to have clarity. I expect, as we can't force them, for them to take their time,' the diplomat said.
'And I would not exclude, it's my personal belief, that they may never do it.'

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon delivered the most explicit threat – saying Scottish MSPs have to give their ‘legislative consent’ and she would advise them to veto it.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff said politicians should ‘have the possibility to reconsider the consequences of an exit’.

Peter Altmaier said that, if Britain left, it would be ‘a difficult watershed with many consequences’.

He added that Britain could apply to rejoin the EU later ‘but that would take a long time’.

Tony Blair also said a second referendum on the UK’s membership should not be ruled out.

He said the nation needs to ‘see the consequences’ of Brexit as they play out in the coming weeks.

The former prime minister said it was difficult to see a second poll at the moment, but ‘there will be a lot of people in the country who will say “let’s have a look at this and see what we are going to do” and Parliament will want to look at it.’

Tory grandee and arch Europhile Lord Heseltine said he was appalled by the result of the referendum with voters ‘sold a fool’s promise’.

He also suggested there will need to be a general election in order for Parliament to sign off on Brexit.

‘Every indication is that there is a 350 majority in the House of Commons in favour of remaining in Europe,’ Lord Heseltine said.

‘The only realistic prospect of persuading the House of Commons to pass amending legislation would be after a general election or another referendum.

‘That is why the fight back begins today.’

Labour MP David Lammy called on Parliament to ‘stop this madness’ and to vote against the decision to leave the EU.

In a statement on his Twitter feed, the former minister said: ‘Wake up. We do not have to do this.’

Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader, said his party would not ‘roll over and give up’ over the issue, pledging to fight the next general election on a manifesto promise to take Britain back into the EU.

The hopes of some Europhiles have been raised by the fact that Mr Cameron has not triggered so-called article 50.

This is the formal mechanism which a country must use to give Brussels two years’ notice of its intention to quit the EU.

During the bruising referendum campaign, the PM said he would invoke article 50 immediately in the event of a Brexit vote, but has failed to do so.

At a special Cabinet meeting today, there will be ‘initial discussions about the administrative process needed to move forward’. But No 10 insiders said ‘decisions around Article 50 are a decision for the next PM’.

Some senior Tories fear that, the longer the leadership contest goes on, the less momentum Britain will have in its talks with Brussels about a new deal.

Now a plot to block Brexit: Bitter losers gang up to scupper EU pull-out 17 million voted for

Our dear friend George Soros was long the pound in a very big way in front of Brexit. With about a 10% decline in its value since Thursday, ouch not likely to bounce back anytime soon.