Financial Articles 2008-10-07

Pensions are safe, especially for government workers! - http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/07/retirement/pension_safety.moneymag/index.htm?postversion=2008100714
- With the stock market cratering, and once-venerable financial institutions biting the dust, you might be wondering about the safety of your traditional pension plan. I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the pension you've earned to date can't be taken away from you; it's protected in a host of ways. The bad news is that if you're one of the lucky 30 million American workers still covered by an old-fashioned pension, the odds are pretty good that your company will jettison the plan before your career is over.

8 out of 10 stressed about the economy
- Concern about economy is a shift from 2007's top sources of stress
- Half in survey stressed about providing for family and having job stability
- Women are bearing the brunt of financial stress
- 60 percent feel angry and irritable, 53 percent fatigued, 52 percent sleepless

Surviving 401K freakout - http://asktheexpert.blogs.money.cnn.com/2008/10/06/surviving-a-401k-freak-out/
- Lots of stay put, don't react advice
- Reader reactions:
  - Enron's management encouraged employees to stay the course also. Those folks now have nothing. If you are anywhere near retirement and have watched your life long saving deteriorate by 40%, stayiing the course is not an option. - Posted By Gail Chenoweth, Houston, TX: October 7, 2008 9:51 am
  - If you believe this, you probably believed the people that said the credit crisis was over last March, or Suzie Orman switching her "bail out" position in a matter of weeks. Be sure, Wall St and the people in the know have been selling and re-adjusting while you have been sitting with the "confidence" they asked you to have. The Wall St criminals did this to you with the Dot-Com bubble, oil speculation, and not this crisis. The next shoe will drop with the $70 TRILLION (equal to the the World GDP) derivative markets going belly up. Good luck!

Sizing up safeharbor money markets - http://asktheexpert.blogs.money.cnn.com/2008/10/01/sizing-up-safe-harbor-money-markets/
- Money market mutual funds vs. bank money market accounts
  - Bank money market - FDIC insured up to $100K (or $250K for retirement accounts)
  - Money market funds - not insured, except for a voluntary few