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Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Grant Cardone Explains Why The 401(k) Is 'The Biggest Scam' In Finance
Financial personality Grant Cardone has shared a bunch of hot takes throughout his career, including his latest tidbit about 401(k) and IRA plans. He refers to these retirement accounts as "the biggest scam" in finance. Cardone is bound to get some resistance since these accounts have been touted as valuable investment vehicles for many years. However, Cardone expands on his argument in a way that will leave some people considering alternative strategies to save money for retirement. Don't Miss: —with up to 120% bonus shares—before this Uber-style disruption hits the public markets $100k+ in investable assets? – no cost, no obligation. You Can't Get Out Cardone asserts that retirement plans make you a prisoner to the bank since you can't withdraw your money at any time. You must be at least 59 ½ years old before you can make penalty-free withdrawals. Some people would benefit a lot more if they could access the same money sooner. Cardone also mentions that there's a lot of friction on your way out. You will have to pay income taxes on any withdrawals you make from a traditional retirement account. The tax rates can get quite high depending on where you live. Most people know that if you avoid taxes on retirement account contributions, you will have to pay taxes when you make withdrawals. The opposite applies to Roth retirement accounts. These accounts tax you on the way in, but you don't pay any taxes on withdrawals, capital gains, or dividends. You also have to make required minimum distributions, which the IRS defines, in case you get any ideas about hoarding money in your retirement accounts to prolong your tax payments. The IRS only has RMDs in place for traditional retirement accounts. Roth accounts get a free pass from this rule. Trending: Named a TIME Best Invention and Backed by 5,000+ Users, Kara's Air-to-Water Pod Cuts Plastic and Costs — You Don't Know Which Companies Are Receiving Your Money Retirement accounts typically let you choose from some funds, but most investors do not know what they are funding. Cardone explains that your retirement account may be funding big pharma, military campaigns, and other initiatives that you may not support. Large corporations often rely on investors to remain solvent and fund new projects. Your money may be going to shady organizations if you stick it in a fund without reviewing the holdings. There's also the risk of losing money in your retirement account due to administrative fees. Some 401(k) providers charge admin fees that are close to 2%, and that doesn't even include a fund's expense ratio. These fees can eat up all of your profits and result in a net loss in your 401(k) plan. That doesn't even include the amount you'll have to pay in taxes once you are ready to withdraw your Estate Is A Tax Haven Unsurprisingly, Cardone mentioned real estate as a viable solution to retirement accounts. You can use leverage to get real estate sooner and generate monthly cash flow from your property. Real estate comes with a bunch of write-offs that you won't find with other investments. It's important to remember that real estate requires a lot of work, especially if you get started with a bunch of single-family homes. You will have to handle phone calls, regularly check properties, deal with various issues like leaks and mold, make property repairs, and do a bunch of other things. Real estate gets easier if you can invest in apartment buildings since all of the units are located in the same place. Real estate is not for everyone, but the people who master this asset can unlock some of the best tax advantages in the entire tax code. Read Next: Warren Buffett once said, "If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die." Image: Shutterstock Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? APPLE (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report TESLA (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article Grant Cardone Explains Why The 401(k) Is 'The Biggest Scam' In Finance originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. 登入存取你的投資組合
Herald Sun
12 hours ago
- Herald Sun
Home and Away star Lynne McGranger reveals her travel highlights
Don't miss out on the headlines from Lifestyle. Followed categories will be added to My News. The Home and Away star has clocked up visits to more than 20 countries, but loves returning to Tasmania. I got my first passport when…. I was 20 and I went with my mum, dad and sister to the UK. This would have been the early '70s. Dad was going there for work and we stayed in Pimlico in a lovely maisonette. The problem was that the early '70s were when the IRA had started to ramp up its bombings in London. Despite all the caution and fear, I still fell in love with London and I'm so grateful to be able to return regularly. I've been to more than 20 countries... I have travelled a great deal over the years. England, Scotland, Wales, southern Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Greece to name a few. Travel is a part of my DNA. I love experiencing new cultures. My most memorable travel experience is... I would say going to Israel during the First Intifada in 1987. We experienced jets going overhead, we saw tanks that had been blown up in the 1967 war that had been left as a memorial, we met Jewish people, Palestinian people and we met Christians and we fell in love with all of the people. It was a scary, savage and an amazing experience. I learned a great deal from that trip and the experience has stayed with me all these years later. Lynne McGranger with friend Sharon Dong on the Three Capes Walk in Tasmania. My favourite place in Australia is... Tasmania. I love the people, the land, the history – even though some of that history is very bleak as we know. I love the coastline, the food and the wine. I've recently returned from walking the Three Capes Track. It was a slightly more arduous walk than I had anticipated on some days, but I loved every moment of it. I travelled with a girlfriend and made some wonderful new friends. And the scenery is stunning. The place I'd love to visit in Australia is…. The Red Centre. I've not been to Alice Springs or Uluru and I'm fascinated to see it. As a cast member of touring musical comedy The Grandparents Club, I'm very fortunate to experience a lot of Australia. I'm really hoping the tour includes the NT next year. The place I have visited most often… In Australia that is Tassie. I just keep being drawn back to it. Overseas, I have visited York in the north of England many times to catch up with my best friend, Maureen, and her husband, Phil, and I'll be returning there again very soon. Lynne McGranger and friends visiting Castle Howard in Yorkshire. My holidays are mostly devoted to… We walk a lot. We love talking with locals and kind of just absorbing the vibe of where we are. We love our food and our wine and the locals always have the best advice on the great restaurants and bars. The place that didn't live up to expectations… I didn't like Athens. My only trip there was before Athens held the Olympics so we're talking 1989 and I just didn't like the vibe of it at all. Perhaps we stayed in the wrong end of town, but my experience found Athens to be very dirty and seedy. I'm sure it's very different now. The most interesting person I've met on a plane is… We met the wonderful songwriter Randy Newman at Athens airport (so Athens wasn't completely disappointing) and I've seen Paul Keating in the lounge at Sydney airport, but I can't think of anyone else I've met on a plane. I love sliding into my plane seat, putting on my earphones and getting immersed in great movies, so if someone famous was right near me, I would miss them in all likelihood. The Grand Chancellor hotel in Hobart at Constitution Wharf. The best hotel I've ever stayed in… I really love the Grand Chancellor in Hobart at Constitution Wharf. I love the way it operates, all of the staff are so welcoming and it has such a homey feel to it. I also love the Sofitel in Collins Street, Melbourne. The travel tips I'd like to share are… My dad taught me a great deal about valuing travel. He fought in World War II and he always taught us to get out among things and to not let fear hold us back. You're there to experience and you don't want to go home with regrets. Lynne McGranger tours nationally with The Grandparents Club 2 from July to October. For all show details head to Originally published as Home and Away star Lynne McGranger reveals her travel highlights
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Grant Cardone Explains Why The 401(k) Is 'The Biggest Scam' In Finance
Financial personality Grant Cardone has shared a bunch of hot takes throughout his career, including his latest tidbit about 401(k) and IRA plans. He refers to these retirement accounts as "the biggest scam" in finance. Cardone is bound to get some resistance since these accounts have been touted as valuable investment vehicles for many years. However, Cardone expands on his argument in a way that will leave some people considering alternative strategies to save money for retirement. Don't Miss: —with up to 120% bonus shares—before this Uber-style disruption hits the public markets $100k+ in investable assets? – no cost, no obligation. You Can't Get Out Cardone asserts that retirement plans make you a prisoner to the bank since you can't withdraw your money at any time. You must be at least 59 ½ years old before you can make penalty-free withdrawals. Some people would benefit a lot more if they could access the same money sooner. Cardone also mentions that there's a lot of friction on your way out. You will have to pay income taxes on any withdrawals you make from a traditional retirement account. The tax rates can get quite high depending on where you live. Most people know that if you avoid taxes on retirement account contributions, you will have to pay taxes when you make withdrawals. The opposite applies to Roth retirement accounts. These accounts tax you on the way in, but you don't pay any taxes on withdrawals, capital gains, or dividends. You also have to make required minimum distributions, which the IRS defines, in case you get any ideas about hoarding money in your retirement accounts to prolong your tax payments. The IRS only has RMDs in place for traditional retirement accounts. Roth accounts get a free pass from this rule. Trending: Named a TIME Best Invention and Backed by 5,000+ Users, Kara's Air-to-Water Pod Cuts Plastic and Costs — You Don't Know Which Companies Are Receiving Your Money Retirement accounts typically let you choose from some funds, but most investors do not know what they are funding. Cardone explains that your retirement account may be funding big pharma, military campaigns, and other initiatives that you may not support. Large corporations often rely on investors to remain solvent and fund new projects. Your money may be going to shady organizations if you stick it in a fund without reviewing the holdings. There's also the risk of losing money in your retirement account due to administrative fees. Some 401(k) providers charge admin fees that are close to 2%, and that doesn't even include a fund's expense ratio. These fees can eat up all of your profits and result in a net loss in your 401(k) plan. That doesn't even include the amount you'll have to pay in taxes once you are ready to withdraw your Estate Is A Tax Haven Unsurprisingly, Cardone mentioned real estate as a viable solution to retirement accounts. You can use leverage to get real estate sooner and generate monthly cash flow from your property. Real estate comes with a bunch of write-offs that you won't find with other investments. It's important to remember that real estate requires a lot of work, especially if you get started with a bunch of single-family homes. You will have to handle phone calls, regularly check properties, deal with various issues like leaks and mold, make property repairs, and do a bunch of other things. Real estate gets easier if you can invest in apartment buildings since all of the units are located in the same place. Real estate is not for everyone, but the people who master this asset can unlock some of the best tax advantages in the entire tax code. Read Next: Warren Buffett once said, "If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die." Image: Shutterstock Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? APPLE (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report TESLA (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article Grant Cardone Explains Why The 401(k) Is 'The Biggest Scam' In Finance originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Irish Times
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Michael McDowell pushed for British amnesty for IRA members without trial, UK files reveal
Michael McDowell argued as attorney general in 2000 that the British government could avoid a struggle to pass Westminster legislation to give 'on-the-run' IRA members an amnesty. Instead, Mr McDowell, who is now a member of Seanad Éireann, repeatedly suggested that the British could use a centuries-old law to grant pardons without prosecuting any of them. This seems to have been met with astonishment by British officials. The difficulties posed by Sinn Féin's demands for 'on-the-run' IRA members – some of whom were sought for offences such as murder – to be given guarantees features in British archive files released on Tuesday. The treatment of the IRA 'on the runs', better known simply as 'OTRs', became a major controversy in 2014 when it was revealed that nearly 300 IRA members had been given so-called 'comfort letters' saying they were not then wanted by British police. READ MORE The issue emerged in February 2014 when John Downey, an alleged IRA member, faced trial in London for the July 1982 Hyde Park bombing, which killed four British soldiers and seven horses. His Old Bailey trial collapsed when it emerged that he had received his comfort letter in 2007 even though there was an active warrant for his arrest. The trial judge halted the trial after ruling this was an abuse of process. Under Mr McDowell's proposal in 2000, which went farther than the comfort letter tactic later used, the British government would have been able, he said, to avoid bringing strongly opposed immunity legislation before Westminster. The idea 'first surfaced' at a meeting between Irish and British officials in Dublin in early November 2000 when the British side was told Mr McDowell believed London could grant 'pardons before convictions' to IRA members. The proposal was outlined in greater depth to the British side in November 2000 at 'a hastily arranged' meeting, where Mr McDowell was described in a British note as being 'quite a student of the English legal system, and admired its flexibility'. However, British officials doubted the idea from the off, saying a royal pardon could be used only after sentence, while a free pardon could expunge the effects of a conviction. Mr McDowell came back to his idea when he was included in the Irish delegation, which included Bertie Ahern , then taoiseach, which travelled from London with British prime minister Tony Blair for an EU meeting in Zagreb, Croatia, shortly afterwards. Here, Mr McDowell again argued that wanted IRA members could be given 'a prosecution amnesty', citing the decision by the British not to prosecute Soviet spy Anthony Blunt for treachery. 'His basic thesis seemed to be that our legal system was sufficiently flexible to allow immunity to be granted without the need for primary legislation,' the Northern Ireland Office's political director, Bill Jeffreys, told an official in the British attorney general's office. He said he had told Mr McDowell his proposal ran counter to the views of the British attorney general, who was 'unwilling' to give immunity to individuals on general public interest grounds. However, if Mr McDowell was arguing that the Northern Ireland secretary of state could 'pre-empt prosecution in a whole class of cases' then that would be 'an entirely new departure'. Widening the grounds for immunity 'seemed to me to run entirely against the trend, and would be very difficult to justify in today's conditions, when we would be expected to seek the necessary powers from parliament', Mr Jeffreys also said. Separately, the files also show the efforts Sinn Féin made to ensure leading IRA figures in the United States such as Gabriel Megahey would not be deported. Now, 25 years later, they are now facing fresh expulsion attempts by Donald Trump's administration. Bill Clinton , US president at the time, had wanted to 'tie off the loose end' created by the six men's issues before he left office, fearing the incoming George W Bush presidency would be less sympathetic. In 1997, US secretary of state Madeleine Albright 'persuaded the US attorney general to suspend deportation action' against the men on 'the foreign policy grounds that it would contribute to the NI political process'. The importance of the OTR issue to Sinn Féin is evident throughout the files, with the party's Gerry Kelly 'grumbling' to Northern Ireland Office officials 'that the lack of movement was causing Sinn Féin great difficulties'.
Irish Times
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Former US ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith turned against Sinn Féin after 9/11, British files claim
Jean Kennedy Smith, the former United States ambassador to Ireland, turned against Sinn Féin after the 9/11 attacks over delays in IRA decommissioning, according to UK files released on Tuesday. In a May 2003 letter to British prime minister Tony Blair's chief of staff, Jonathan Powell, the historian Alistair Horne relayed details of conversations that 'our very old friend' had when she visited him. 'I thought I should perhaps pass on, in confidence, a piece of information that I feel might be of interest, and even some use, to the upper reaches when the PM goes to Washington,' Mr Horne wrote in the letter, which is heavily redacted. 'Recently, we had our very old friend, Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith, to stay. I always try to keep off Ireland, but was quite taken aback when she – and with no prompting – came out with the following two remarks. READ MORE 'One, Tony Blair should be much tougher with the IRA – and with all paramilitaries. The British should stop 'pussyfooting around' with Gerry Adams , etc, and the United States would support this. 'Two, Tony Blair should tell Congress, using his enormous current authority there, that Americans should stop sending any money to the IRA. 'I was quite staggered, knowing how close she was to Gerry Adams, but this seems to be just one more example of how American views have changed so radically since 9/11. 'Although Jean was very explicitly speaking as a private person, she does of course have the constant ear of brother, Teddy, who she telephones at least once a day. 'I assume these two sentiments would represent him, too. If you know this already, please forgive me; it just came to me as quite an eye-opener.' Mr Horne, who died in 2017, worked for British intelligence in the 1950s and 1960s and he was extremely well connected in top British circles. The IRA had destroyed some weaponry 18 months before Mr Horne's letter. In October 2001, the International Independent Commission on Decommissioning's head, Canadian general John de Chastelain, reported that the IRA had put weapons 'completely and verifiably beyond use'. This timing – coming just six weeks after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States – has been linked by some commentators to Sinn Féin and IRA concerns about US support. The tranch of UK files, most of which cover 2005, contain numerous instances of officials and politicians struggling to overcome logjams blamed on the pace of decommissioning or on the demands for it. In May 2003, according to the files, Mr Adams told Mr Blair during a meeting in Chequers, where he was accompanied by Martin McGuinness , that British demands for a definitive IRA statement were impossible to meet. 'Adams said of course republicans had said some stupid things, and in private he could say so, but we could not get the IRA to say words that were dictated to them,' Mr Powell recorded in a note sent to a Northern Ireland Office official. The letters bears an instruction that no further copies should be made of it, with Mr Powell saying that the two Sinn Féin leaders 'were very keen that we keep the fact of our meeting quiet'. In one of the files, the Belfast priest, Fr Alec Reid , who along with the former Methodist moderator, Harold Good, later witnessed the IRA's final acts of decommissioning, suggested that IRA weapons be stored in an Irish Defence Forces base 'north of Dublin'.
