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The Great 401(k) Hoax: What You Need to Know to Protect Your Family and Your Future

Average customer rating:

Lost Interest Quickly...
What Can I Do About It?
401 (K): Hype, intolerable, opinionated poopfest
long-term view that public must heed
sobering thoughts for babyboomers

The Great 401(k) Hoax: What You Need to Know to Protect Your Family and Your Future
William Wolman , and Anne Colamosca
Manufacturer: Perseus Books Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0738206350
Release Date: 2002-05-07

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"The 401(k) will turn out to be the greatest systemic financial hoax ever perpetrated on an unsuspecting public," write William Wolman and Anne Colamosca in the opening pages of this book of financial muckraking. They compare this popular form of retirement planning with the Dutch tulip mania of the 17th century, the South Sea Bubble of the 18th century, and the stock-market crash of 1929--and suggest that something worse is on the horizon for people who are planning to live their golden years off the proceeds of 401(k) investing. Wrongly believing that the boom years of the 1990s were typical, "most Americans do not have the resources to ride out the bad markets of the kind that we believe will prevail for the next decade," write Wolman (former chief economist for BusinessWeek) and Colamosca (a veteran journalist). They advise current investors to put their 401(k) money into bonds and believe companies should be banned from matching employee contributions with its own stock (a lesson they draw from the Enron debacle). The authors want even more, however: "What is needed is an FDR-style New Deal for the nation's pension system." The Great 401(k) Hoax is a piece of investment populism, potentially doing for the CNBC crowd what Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele did for political junkies. --John Miller

Book Description

How the 401(k) has come to dominate the American family's long-term investment portfolio, why it is inadequate--and what to do about it.

According to business and finance journalists Bill Wolman and Anne Colamosca, the American public has been hoodwinked: 401(k)s, the most popular mechanism for retirement investing, were established to satisfy corporate, not individual, interests. They are replacing defined benefit-pension plans at an alarming rate and are vulnerable to the vicissitudes of the market, which--if history serves as our guide--is destined for at least a decade of lackluster performance.

Drawing on primary historical and contemporary data, Wolman and Colamosca build a compelling case against the 401(k) as a tool for ensuring long-term financial security. They urge individuals and families to diversify their savings and investments, building conservative portfolios that include bonds, high-dividend stocks, and savings. In the process, they explore the colorful social history of our love-hate relationship with the stock market and address many key questions facing any family today, such as: How do I accumulate enough wealth to educate my children and retire comfortably? How secure are my sources of income and how can I anticipate change? Timely and incisive, The Great 401(k) Hoax is guaranteed to inspire debate and action from the water cooler to the boardroom to the voting booth.

Customer Reviews:

Lost Interest Quickly..........2007-01-06

I have been reading a lot of books lately regarding investments and finances. This book trips itself up on some kind of a political agenda (I have yet to figure out if the authors were trying to smear Republicans, Democrats, or both), so much so that I was completely distracted by what the authors had to say and quit reading after a few chapters. The political jabs were distracting and they made the authors seem less credible. The book had too much of a "doomsday/completely hopeless future" feel to it, it almost was painful to read, it made me squirm inside!
There are many books out there that can offer a lot more help (and hope) than this one, if you are looking to secure your financial future.

What Can I Do About It?.......2006-08-23

The Title of the book states "Why your family is at risk, what you can do about it?" After nearly 188 pages on the first part of this phrase, the authors talk about "stillwater" investing which seems to be "random walk" by another name. The authors complain loudly and convincingly (with some irritants mentioned by other reviewers), but I'd have expected similar vigor and greater clarity in listing out the solutions....disappointed.

401 (K): Hype, intolerable, opinionated poopfest.......2005-09-08

Like several other reviewers who I should have read first, I found myself seeing a loooong stretch to this book's short stack of information and too much snarky cereal filler. You'll be angry, trust me.

Must have family who edited the thing and printed it.

long-term view that public must heed.......2004-03-18

The great 401(k) hoax has a long-term view that is very sobering and that people must pay attention to. The public has been told that they will do best if they take care of their own pension plans -- this saves corporations billions of dollars!

sobering thoughts for babyboomers.......2004-02-23

This intelligent book lays out some startling truths for babyboomers about to retire --mamany of them have only a small stake in the stockmarket because their incomes may not have been particularly high and they will only have a tiny portion of what they will need later in their lives. It's a wake-up call to reinvent themselves and work longer, find more interesting work and keep bringing in income.

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