Hillary Offers 401(k)s for All

Taxmen not recognizing same-sex unions

(NEWSER) - The Internal Revenue Service is refusing to recognize gay marriages, causing headaches for couples who have won the right to wed in their home states, BusinessWeek finds. The Obama administration has urged federal agencies to extend benefits as far as they can to same-sex couples under existing law, but analysts say the IRS has little scope for stretching the rules without running afoul of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as being between a man and a woman. More»

Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland call for citizens' savings

(NEWSER) - As European governments seek new sources of revenue, private retirement plans are taking a hit. Since most are organized by the state, "European ministers of finance have a facilitated access to the savings accumulated there, and it is only logical that they try to get a hold of this money for their own ends," writes Jan Iwanik for the Christian Science Monitor . Iwanick highlights five such schemes:

• Hungarians last month had to choose between handing the government their retirement savings or giving up their state pensions.
• In Bulgaria, the government called for $300 million of private early retirement savings to be moved to state pensions; trade union protests weakened the plan.

When fund ran dry, it stopped paying its retirees

(NEWSER) - When an Alabama town’s pension fund ran out, it simply stopped sending money to its retirees—a decision that’s never been made before, pension experts believe. That left retired public workers struggling: Some returned to work, one filed for bankruptcy, and one died with no electricity or running water at home. The New York Times calls the case a warning to other cities and states with tight pension funds. More»

They want to return it to 2009 levels

(NEWSER) - House Democrats are likely to pass the president’s tax cut deal, but not before changing its estate tax provision. House resolve to block the bill has largely faded in the wake of a strong Senate test vote. But after meeting with rank-and-file members yesterday, senior Democrats tell the Washington Post that they’re likely to at least hold votes to restore the estate tax to 2009 levels, instead of the more lenient arrangement Republicans negotiated. More»

Rep. Cynthia Lummis says it's the case in Wyoming

(USER SUBMITTED) - Rep. Cynthia Lummis claims her Wyoming constituents are literally planning to die by Dec. 31 to avoid paying estate taxes, which will be reinstated when Bush-era tax cuts expire at year-end, reports the AP . She explained their logic this way: "If you have spent your whole life building a ranch, and you wanted to pass your estate on to your children, and you were 88-years-old and on dialysis, and the only thing that was keeping you alive was that dialysis, you might make that same decision." More»