Someone in the White House deserves a lump of coal in his stocking. We know that inflation-fueled Bidenomics is hurting charitable giving. Now we’ve got some additional grim news about how it’s hurting anyone with a 401K—some 60 million people.

EJ Antoni, Committee To Unleash Prosperity senior fellow, revealed his new study on where things stand as of Q3 2023. There’s been some improvement in the stock market so far in Q4, but we’ve still got far to go to recover from the damage. 

Antoni wrote for the New York Post:

Across all plans, the net losses are an eye-watering $1 trillion.

But it gets worse.

The 40-year high in inflation, brought on by government spending, borrowing, and printing too much money, has further eroded the value of 401(k) plans by $16,200 on average, for a real (inflation-adjusted) loss of around $33,200, or 24.8%.

While the study estimates that pension plans have fared better than many IRAs, their balances have also fallen in real terms.

Through the third quarter of this year, pension plans have lost $3.3 trillion, or 12.1%, of real value during the Biden administration.

Inflation has been ticking down, but it’s still far too high. And the more precise median Consumer Price Index (CPI) shows that the average market basket of goods for families is 5.24% higher as of last month compared to a year ago.

Given how hard-hit families are by inflation, it makes sense that CNN Business reported on November 7:

A growing number of cash-strapped Americans are cracking their nest eggs for emergency funds.

The number of 401(k) plan participants taking hardship distributions increased by 13% between the second and third quarters, according to an analysis by Bank of America of its clients’ employee benefit programs.

That figure now stands at 18,040, the highest level in at least the past five quarters since Bank of America started tracking this data.

Retirees who live on fixed incomes and pensions are hit hardest by this ravaging of retirement accounts. Many people who are near retirement age will have to defer leaving the workforce to keep afloat.

Antoni states in his report: “A typical person nearing retirement who planned on leaving the workforce with $1,000,000 in his or her IRA will need to work an additional decade to fully recoup the real value lost from that IRA over the last two and a half years.”

During this busy holiday season, Americans deserve better as they struggle to put presents under the tree and plan for their futures in 2024 and beyond.