Deleted

[bender]

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[Mr. Green]

What was the advantage of using myRA as opposed to opening a Vanguard IRA? It looked like the contribution limits were the same and with the myRA the money was automatically invested in savings bonds, which is an awful choice given our low interest rates.

[protostache]

The program was mostly for people who were intimidated by retirement planning and who had very little to start out contributing. myRA let you start with $25 and put in tiny increments, as small as $5. These were then invested in the TSP G fund, not just ordinary savings bonds or a savings account.

By comparison, a Vanguard IRA will let you start with any amount as long as you set up direct deposit, but the minimum fund amount is typically $1,000. That takes an awful long time to get to with $5 per week, and in the mean time your money is sitting in a money market fund earning nothing.

[slappy]

Wow. I had no idea it cost that much! Good riddance for sure.

[neil]

I grew up with the realities of being at the poverty level as do a significant portion of my family.  For someone who can only save $5/week, any run-of-the-mill "emergency" (like a car maintenance) wipes them out.  People at this level do not need a government program to sponsor their IRA; they need to address their budget first.  This product literally had no market and it shows.  I would be okay with the cost if it was somehow serving in some fashion.

People can buy ETFs until the hit mutual fund thresholds.  And the "power" of compounding isn't going to solve the issue of a low saving rate.

In a perfect world, I wish they would consolidate the 401K/IRA system and nuke 95% of the rules completely.  Given that would never happen thanks to banking lobbyists, they could simply opened up the TSP to anyone who wanted an account and have contributions count against 401K limits.  We don't need more systems to solve this problem when existing ones work just fine.

I certainly wish my SO could put money in the TSP rather than at work.  Right now the only reason to do so is for match and tax benefits.

[wenchsenior]

I grew up with the realities of being at the poverty level as do a significant portion of my family.  For someone who can only save $5/week, any run-of-the-mill "emergency" (like a car maintenance) wipes them out.  People at this level do not need a government program to sponsor their IRA; they need to address their budget first.  This product literally had no market and it shows.  I would be okay with the cost if it was somehow serving in some fashion.

People can buy ETFs until the hit mutual fund thresholds.  And the "power" of compounding isn't going to solve the issue of a low saving rate.

In a perfect world, I wish they would consolidate the 401K/IRA system and nuke 95% of the rules completely.  Given that would never happen thanks to banking lobbyists, they could simply opened up the TSP to anyone who wanted an account and have contributions count against 401K limits.  We don't need more systems to solve this problem when existing ones work just fine.

I certainly wish my SO could put money in the TSP rather than at work.  Right now the only reason to do so is for match and tax benefits.

I totally support this and I hope someday it will happen.  I wish the Obama admin had pushed for it. Even some of the GOP supports this idea.