Nothing gripes me more than hugely inaccurate money information. And today I’m griped-out thanks to the ridiculously inaccurate information shared in Tweetland by our president.
As most of us in these United States of America know, not all workers have much if any disposable income to spend or save. Nor do the majority of working Americans have a qualified retirement account–such as a 401(k), IRA or Roth IRA– that they fund, meaning, actually put money into.
One who doesn’t know this, or, has any clue about the money realities of real working folks is POTUS.
According to USA TODAY, on 1/10/20, Donald Trump tweeted:
“STOCK MARKET AT ALL-TIME HIGH! HOW ARE YOUR 409K’S DOING? 70%, 80%, 90% up? Only 50% up! What are you doing wrong?”
Really Donald? How sadly ignorant. Allow me to explain:
First, Mr. President, it isn’t “409K’S” it’s “401 (k)”. And “409” is the brand name of a popular house cleaning product. Something I’m going to guess you also know little about.
Second, roughly only about half of Americans have access to a 401 (k), according to CNBC. And the Census Bureau reports that about 32% of Americans are saving for retirement in a 401(k).
Third, to pronounce that everyone’s qualified retirement account is up 70 to 90% and that if their account had only gained 50% they must be doing something wrong is pretty close to goofy.
Goofy because neither one of the three stock market indices, the S&P 500, Nasdaq, or DJIA, were up even close to 50% in 2019. And, while it was a great double-digit year for each of those indices that represent the stock markets’ performances, their 2019 returns were up 28%, 35%, and 22% respectively.
As all of us know, telling the truth is really important. Especially when it comes to money in our 2020 world.
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