If you draw a pension or have a 401K, thank your lucky stars we are bailing out AIG

[Mike 03]

As despicable as they are, it is what it is.

Some of the bloviating posts about how awful we are for saving the banks, insurance agencies, or worrying about the stock markets are turning my stomach for their incredible ignorance.



"News of the AIG federal bail out only scratches the surface of what is going on. Millions of schoolteachers, firefighters, and other government employees have 403bs managed by AIG.


The Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Fund inaugurated a lawsuit against AIG in May of lying. According to Reuters, the fund “accuses New York-based AIG of repeatedly but falsely assuring investors that its risk management and diversification insulated it from credit market turmoil in 2007. Credit market problems led AIG to suffer a $7.8 billion first-quarter loss.”


Google links suggest that the California Public Employees Pension Fund, the largest in the country, was considering suing AIG for similar reasons.

MSNBC reporters and online sources are assuring people that FDIC savings and checking accounts are safe. Retirement funds typically are stock funds that are not insured by the FDIC. This misdirection by newscasters is not helpful; it does not answer the questions that people are asking: Are my AIG retirement funds safe?"


http://ordinaryordinary.blogspot.com/2008/09/aig-holds-pension-funds-for-milliions.html

[Taverner]

1. I don't mind bailing them out but why - haven't we nationalized them by now?

It is costing more to bail them out repeatedly than it would to just buy them...

[JuniperLea]

2. That will not save the DJII

It is overinflated, just like the housing market was. It must hit its natural support level, which is approx. 6200, according to recent research.

The working class should have never been forced into this system. The DJII is NOT indicative of our economy. Bailing out AIG isn't going to help.

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. Hopefully I was not the only one who moved my funds out of AIG.

If you stop working for the company that set up the 403 (b) you can have your account changed to a 401 K and move it.
The company just has to give written approval for the change.

Our 403 was in an AIG annuity payng 4%.
Good news during the tech bubble burst, , not good news around 2005.
Thankfully, I followed a gut feeling and I moved it in 2006.

[bain_sidhe]

5. Nope, not the only one

although we got out even sooner, in 2004. Same as you, had a gut feeling.

[SoCalDem]

4. "...have 403bs managed by AIG...." now that's a joke

Looks like AIG would have a problem managing a McDonalds Drive-thru order.

[Thickasabrick]

6. K&R and wholeheartedly agree. The complete economical collapse

of the world is not the answer....but people are screaming for it.

[Junkdrawer]

7. Basically, we're still not sure whether to shit or go blind...

The Real Reason We Keep Bailing Out AIG

How could one company be worth bailing out for $180 billion? That’s how much the US has contributed to AIG so far.

So what is it about an insurance company that makes AIG so central to the financial system that they can’t be allowed to fail at any cost?

Hank Paulson used to at least make a show of trying to explain the latest bailout moves. It seems that the Obama administration, despite all that talk about transparency, has just decided to keep Tim Geithner locked up on these critical days.

But let's light a match rather than curse the darkness. To understand why AIG is special, you need to understand how credit default swaps wound up playing an important role on the balance sheets of banks all around the world. Basically, as banks loaded up on risky corporate loans and mortgage backed securities, they were forced with a choice: sock away more money against a rainy day or buy an umbrella from AIG. If you bought the umbrella, you were allowed to keep using your capital for investments.

Now that it’s rained for something like 400 days, it’s all too clear that AIG didn’t have enough umbrellas to go around.

Let’s drop the metaphor. Banks all around the world never fully-accounted for the losses they would have to take if their loans stopped paying off at expected rates because they had bought insurance against these losses from AIG. If the banks had to account for those likely losses, they would have to start socking money away. This is what regulators are trying to prevent by bailing out AIG.


....

http://www.businessinsider.com/what-makes-aig-so-special-2009-3

[RC]

10. Why are our prisons not filling up with bank executives and bank board members?

That is the only way to cut through this mess and sort it out. If they are "To Big To Fail" and they are anyway, nationalize them or at least put them in receivership. Jail those responsible.

[librechik]

8. if it would actually help, I would thank my stars

I'm afraid this thing is far from the bottom, however. Bailing won't work once they realize how large the void is. They'll keep bailing until then, I suppose.

[Winterblues]

9. How is bailing them out going to solve anything?

How many times will we have to give them tens of billions? When does it stop or in your mind does it stop? Granted there are a lot of people that are holding a bag here but why should it end up being the tax payer. If we are going to use tax payer money, let's use it for something that truly matters to all Americans like Health Care. I don't buy the argument that they are too big to fail. Someone will fill in the gaps, they always do.

[Thickasabrick]

11. It prevents a global economic collapse. I do think European countries

should be helping with this shit though.