The Stealthy Killer That Is Capitalism

PAUL BUCHHEIT FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT 

Monday November 11, 2013

Anti-capitalism colorThe process is gradual, insidious, lethal. It starts with financial stress in various forms, and then, according to growing evidence, leads to health problems and shorter lives.  Financial stress is brought upon us by the profit motive of capitalism, which offers little incentive to feed hungry children, to treat the sick, to secure us in retirement, to provide job opportunities for middle-class Americans. Some of the steps in the process are becoming more and more familiar to us.  

1. Giving Half of Your 401(k) to the Banks  The Frontline documentary The Retirement Gamble reported that a 401(k) fund earning 7% a year with 2% in fees would lose up to 60% of the value of an equivalent non-fee fund.

A 2% fee doesn't seem like much, but the documentary's claim was close to the truth. Based on the 6% historical stock market return, an employee investing $1,000 a year for 30 years in a non-fee fund and then holding the accumulated sum for another 20 years would end up with $269,000. Imposing a 2% annual fee would reduce the final total to $127,000, a 53% loss. Imposing a 1.3% fee, which according to the documentary is the industry average, would reduce the final total to $165,000, a 39% loss.  The financial industry is taking this money from more of us every year. The number of private sector workers depending on a 401(k) instead of a company pension has increased from 12 percent to 68 percent since 1983.

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