short list ...
(snip)" ICI reports that the week ended August 11 saw a record 15th weekly outflow from domestic stock mutual funds, this time of $2.1 billion. YTD outflows are now just under $48 billion. Hedge funds are not the only ones who missed the miraculous and completely senseless July stock ramp: retail [ i.e. individual investors - sic ] pulled out $13.1 billion in the same time, and has followed up by redeeming another $4.1 billion in August so far: nothing matters anymore - stocks can go up, they can go down: it is all the same to the one segment of the stock market responsible for the biggest portion of market capitalization. There is no improvement in the trend - retail has no faith in stock valuations, in the SEC, in the possibility that another flash crash won't happen tomorrow"(snip)
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(snip)"A record number of workers made hardship withdrawals from their retirement accounts in the second quarter, Fidelity Investments said Friday. And the number of workers taking loans from their accounts reached a 10-year high, Fidelity says.
The average age of the workers taking hardship withdrawals is between 35 and 55, their peak earning years."(snip)
(snip)"The withdrawal and loan trends reflect the financial stress many workers find themselves in as the economy struggles to find sure footing, according to McHugh.
High unemployment and companies cutting overtime or overall hours have reduced the take-home pay of many workers, she says. "As a result the percentage of individuals initiating hardship distributions is one of the things we're concerned about."
Fidelity administers 17,000 401(k) retirement plans, with 11 million participants. In the second quarter, some 62,000 workers initiated a hardship withdrawal. That compares with 45,000 in the same period a year ago.
What's also eye-opening is that 45% of participants who took a hardship withdrawal a year ago took another one this year, McHugh said."(snip)
(snip)"A key concern is that hardship withdrawals are withdrawals, they are not loans. As a result there can be a significant impact on someone's retirement savings. With a few exceptions, if the worker is younger than 59 1/2, they'll pay a 10% penalty for early withdrawal in addition to taxes."(snip)
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One possible take-away is that a significant number of middle class Americans are now liquidating their investment / retirement assets in order to attempt to maintain their middle class lifestyle in an environment of falling net incomes and rising prices for 'necessities'. Obviously, the future implications are not good !



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