More government control over your life

$3 MILLION RETIREMENT CAP IN OBAMA'S BUDGET WOULD NOT APPLY TO HIM

President Barack Obama’s 2014 budget puts a $3 million cap on tax-advantaged retirement accounts to crack down on “wealthy individuals” using these investment vehicles to earn “substantially more than is needed to fund reasonable levels of retirement savings.”

But an analysis by Forbes finds that a 20-year old saving for retirement would need to amass a $9.97 million portfolio to fund just a $60,000 lifestyle by age 65. What’s more, writes David John Marotta of Forbes, $3 million today represents just $500,000 in 1970s dollars.

Kathleen Pender of the San Francisco Chronicle also notes that Obama’s plan would not apply to himself:

The limit would not apply to Obama’s own pension, which is worth at least $5 million, because it is not in a tax-advantaged account, according to Brian Graff, executive director of the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries. Obama’s pension, which guarantees him a Cabinet-level salary for life indexed to inflation, is a “non-qualified deferred compensation plan, similar to what corporate executives get,” he says.

“No legislation should inhibit individuals from taking care of their own retirement,” says Marotta. “Government officials know very little about retirement planning. They haven’t even had the foresight to keep Social Security solvent.”