Today, 4 years after the 2008 market meltdown, the nation’s pensions are gorging on toxins, which have already weakened them and which will, in the near future, outright kill them. Let’s call them Zombie pensions.It may surprise you to learn that Wall Street has wasted precious little time publicly defending itself after the 2008 market meltdown and taxpayer bailout. Everyone knows the nauseating truth that Wall Street pulled a fast one on the American public and there is no point, i.e., no money to be made by Wall Street, trying to soothe critics, such as the Occupy Wall Street crowd. Instead, Wall Street is busier than ever making even bigger grabs at the few pockets of American wealth still left – pensions, endowments, foundations and high net worth individuals.
Wall Street no longer has any interest in Main Street—the vampires have drained the blood from America’s middle class and are moving on.
The “garbage du jour” is high-cost, high-risk, illiquid and opaque alternative investments, such as structured notes, hedge funds, hedge fund of funds, and private equity funds.
These investments are designed to lock-in investor monies for, say, a decade, charge exponentially greater fees than traditional investments, provide substantial wiggle-room regarding interim investment performance/portfolio valuation, and delay accountability for years—until it’s too late.
When these time-bombs explode, the decision-makers responsible for selecting them will be long gone and the stakeholders will be hard-pressed to piece together what went wrong.
If you do not understand what your invested in then walk away. Alternative investments are another bubble in the making. The Wall Street bullies will destroy what’s left of the American pension system all to benefit their own greed.
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