According to this posting, Why Pensions May be More Vulnerable – Swampland – TIME, there is a potential that out of all this work being done to fix the current financial meltdown, in the future it might be
.. easier for pension funds to invest larger stakes in riskier hedge funds and financial institutions, relaxing the fiduciary duties that usually come with investing in people’s retirement. This was a controversial provision that even the White House and Senate Republicans were leery of – Dems mostly opposed it – but House Republicans were adamant in seeing it included in the bill. In fact the original language of these provisions – introduced as an amendment in committee by Representatives John “Randy” Kuhl a New York Republican and Rob Andrews, a New Jersey Democrat** – called for even greater changes to the system: allowing pension funds to hold up to 50% stakes in hedge funds and financial institutions*. Just a thought, but when Congress gets down to reasserting more regulation on the markets, this might be something they want to look at.
So in a few years from now, when there is another meltdown, instead of (or in addition to) wiping out people’s mortgages, it will wipe out their pension funds as well.
People in the U.S. should be very very worried.
Smart People I Know 