tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10261349.post1372102883484035547..comments2023-09-18T08:21:07.656-04:00Comments on NAVITOR: Bush's Achievements - Ten Things the President Got RightNavitorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03661946416046970329noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10261349.post-32272072973277043222009-01-19T00:23:00.000-05:002009-01-19T00:23:00.000-05:00If I may, I think there is one major thing that Bu...If I may, I think there is one major thing that Bush did right that is getting absolutely zero play. Retirement Account Reform. When he took office, he touched that third rail of social security hoping to fix it. When he realized that he didn't have the votes, he went for plan B which he "hid" in his tax cuts. <BR/><BR/>Bush pushed for and was able to pass massive expansion of IRA and 401k and other self directed retirement plans. He was able to make those changes permanent too. Before his first term, if you made 50k a year and had a 401k, you could put 15% of your salary max or 7500 dollars into it and your employer had a matching max as well. The cap was 10500 so even if you were lucky enough to make 80k, you could only put 10500 in. After Bush, with that 50k, you can put a full 16500 this year and your employer can help out up to 25% of your salary or 12500 in this case. So from 10500 max to 29k. That is a lot of extra cash for retirement and those who take advantage will be better off when social security goes belly up.<BR/><BR/>IRA’s went from 2k to 5k max. Other retirements went up as well. Plus if you are 50 or older, you get even more to put in during the peak earning years. His medical savings plans were great too as they can be used for retirement as well or to pretax offset some medical bills. <BR/><BR/>This is one accomplishment that I think will have massive positive impact for a lot of people. <BR/><BR/>I really hate that Bush and his team never touted their own successes. It seems that after the beating they took on "mission accomplished", they went silent on the good things that they did. That drug plan you mention is a blessing to my mother. You never hear anything about it or that retirement reform or half the list you made.<BR/><BR/>His tax cuts were pretty darn good too. Just wish spending wasn't expanded so much with them but take the bad with the good I guess.Chris in NChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16903909516089129503noreply@blogger.com