I received a spam email today, entitled: “Your 401K can Earn Up to 6.9%”.
Not so long ago the scams and get-rich-quick schemes offered multi-hundred percent annual rates of return on investment capital.
Today’s hot come-on is the promise of a point or two over the old T-Bill rate, for retirement savings. (And before you say that this is probably an offer of annuities, and therefore close to realistic, consider that it came in an unsolicited message to my @chicagoboyz email account, which attracts a lot of spam. Spammers go for popular themes and fantasies, like easy sex or quintupling your money on penny stocks. But an offer to plunge on a 7% return on a retirement account, not much more than the most conservative investors once took for granted? Pathetic.)
In a robust economy with a reasonable Fed and credit markets you’d be able to earn 2-4% above the inflation rate with essentially no risk. In today’s economy even spammers are reaching for yield.
I have always paid my visa bill a day/2 before it is due to have the interest in the bank. But this last year I didn’t receive a 1099 for the interest paid because it was so small.
Not even worth reporting.
That is very funny.
Bill Gross from PIMCO doth say the era of money made in the market is over, we shall have to earn money providing, making, repairing things or providing a service – other than Financial Adviser.
But the United States remains blest if so..