How Obama and McCain Want to Change Your Retirement Accounts

October 16, 2008 RSS Feed Print
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The subject of retirement accounts was briefly mentioned in the first question of last night's presidential debate. Barack Obama proposed penalty-free hardship withdrawals from IRAs and 401(k)'s, which are currently subject to a 10 percent early withdrawal penalty for those younger than age 59½ who need access to their retirement stash. Fifteen percent of the account—up to $10,000—may be withdrawn in 2008 (including retroactively) and 2009 but will still be subject to normal taxes.

Both Obama and John McCain's recently proposed economic plans will also allow retirees to avoid selling off their retirement assets while the market is at historic lows. Currently, annual withdrawals from traditional IRAs are required for everyone age 70½ or older. These required minimum distributions are taxed as income. Both senators have circulated proposals to temporarily suspend the required withdrawals for seniors over age 70½. This will allow flailing nest eggs more time to recover from recent market turbulence.

But some retirees need to tap their retirement accounts for immediate expenses and can't put off their distributions until the market improves. To help this group of retirees, both candidates plan to lower the tax rate on retirement account withdrawals, which are currently taxed as income. McCain will tax withdrawals from retirement accounts at the 10 percent rate up to the first $50,000 withdrawn. Obama will exempt from taxation any withdrawals made up to the required minimum amount.

Here's a look at how the economy is affecting baby boomer retirement.

Tell us, what else could the candidates do to help retirement savers?

Tags:
2008 presidential election,
John McCain,
Barack Obama,
retirement

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well i heard that obama want to stop the war and that is good baecuse the war in Iran is killing so many people.so i agree with that over my life because people from my family are in war.

Tara Miller of RI 8:09PM October 29, 2008

corrupt, which has never NEVER happened in the history of our country, then EVERY single one of them would be corrupt present day. If there ever in the history of out country and corrupt police officer in ANY town or city then EVERY single police officer is corrupt in the country. Remember your idealogy whoever you are that wrote the first comment on this story titled "WHAT I HEARD". A few bad apples destroys the WHOLE enchilada in every facet of our sosciety---RIGHT? And no that was not John Mccain a few years ago who came to acorn rallies and spoke and promoted the organization----it was his evil look alike. And Bill Ayers, oh yeah, you are right. He is definetely a terrorist. The University of Illinois hires all their college proffessors ONLY if they are terrorists. YEP, especially one's like Bill Ayers who helped form a political group during the vietnam war era who opposed the sensless slaughter of 50,000 of our troops during that war and to raise awaress blew up garbage cans in the bathroom of the Pentagon STRICTLY on purpose when the coast was clear and repeatedly checked that no person was around to get injured and the ONLY deaths EVER caused by them was strictly by accident when one accidently went off in their own home and they were standing right over it when the organizations mission was NEVER to hurt anybody EVER but you know those accidents do happen with trash can bombs in their private members home. Yep, in fact prior to 9-11 I heard the PENTAGON was domestically attacked. Yep, every year, year after year prior to 9-11 it was WIDELY reported that we had bombs going off at the pentagon and it was under attack. GEE, I don't ever remember hearing about it in my life prior to 9-11. OH but WAIT, Obama happens to live in the same rough area as Ayers , several miles away now. HEY, you know what, I am a child molester. Why yes I am. You know

why? because I went online today and found three yes THREE!!! registered sex offenders within a 5 mile radius of my house. and THAT ALONE makes me a child molester BECAUSE I live by three. Yes ladies and gentleman, even if you live by a former murderer, rapist, child molester or have talked to one that means you are now officially one of them. In fact, if you live by a person who was never convicted of any crime in their life, but was a member of something forty years ago that did anything illegal, not they themself personally,and happen to serve on the same community school funding board as them since you lived in the same community and that was your job at the time and you live by them, you are now one of them . Like Professor Bill Ayers.

of 7:48AM October 27, 2008

First of all, people like you with false facts make me sick. One of Mccain's biggest lobby supporters is the heatlcare industry. Under his plan, insurance will be deregulated and people like me who have employer health insurance will be taxed as income and the deduction my employer gets will be withdrawn, making them drop my plan and force me to go on the private healthcare plans that is no longer beheld to state laws requiring simple things like you know- denial for prexisting conditions, age discrimantion, two things that affect ME! among other health insurance deregulations from this. Obama's Plan would leave employer based heathcare alone from being taxed on the person, the employer gets the same deduction, and people who don't have can go on the federal one in place now for federal employees drawing in a bigger pool of oncome for the plan. Second, Those republican friends of yours were hard at work with false propaganda regarding the aborted fetuses issue. Her's the facts, First of all there already were laws in Illinois that required Doctor's to perform life saving care to aborted fetuses, Illinois state Senate Republicans came up with a bill similiar to this but added "padding definitions" to lay the person such as yourself I will explain. It was added language that attemted to define the long argument that abortions are now finally humans with rights as people that would now allow Doctors to be civilly sued if the Fetus did not survive. The bill was also fought the the American Medical association!! Mind you there was already a law in place that required Doctors to perform lifesaving procedures to any living fetus. This Bill if passed would have finally set the stage for defining a child even in fetus stage of develpoment and therefore Roe vs. wade can be overturned since a fetus in a mother would be considered a child and ALL abortions could be illegal eventually. Mind you three versions of this bill failed in both chambers of the Illinois legilature that is republican domniated. Do you really think a politician would be a babykiller? seriously use your head. This was a smoke screen by the right. Do you see anybody calling the Illinois republican and democrat Representatives and Senators this acuusation when three versions failed? as if Obama is the only person in the world why this failed in BOTH chambers. Hey, what the hell, let's overturn abortions. I want women to go back to back room abortions, don't you?. Too bad that all the phony registrations by acorn were ALREADY flagged by Acorn itself and presented to election authorities in a separate pile for review becuase they decided to follow federal law that states Every single voter registration form filled out MUST be turned in no matter what for review. In in the history of our country, there has never been ONE SINGLE instance of impropiety in ANY Company organiztion, agency, etc. But if there was, the WHOLE Organization is then Bad. If a few politicians were to do anything CONT

of 7:15AM October 27, 2008

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