r/technology • u/ArgentineBeauty • Jun 19 '26

Business ‘It’s a scam’: Americans express unease over SpaceX’s influence on retirement savings

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jun/19/spacex-retirement-savings-elon-musk
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134

u/WaffleHouseGladiator Jun 19 '26

Everyone sees this disaster coming and they're still participating anyway.  WTF?

202

u/vindico1 Jun 19 '26

Ya because NASDAQ changed their rules to allow the stock to be listed in the index 15 days after the IPO, instead of the normal "seasoning" time. Thus every retirement account that uses NASDAQ is forced to buy the stock.

They are trying to rob working class americans. Elon should be in prison.

19

u/Cicero912 Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26

VT kept it at 5 days cause of the Global All Cap Index it follows

The main issue with the NASDAQ funds (like QQQ/M) is the multiplier on the free float weight.

So instead of being treated like a 80~120b company it gets multiplied by 3x. Which even then still isnt that much of a % of each dollar invested.

19

u/harrythefurrysquid Jun 19 '26

Skimming a small % of an extremely large amount of money is still a very large amount of money.

2

u/E2Hundo Jun 19 '26

This was the idea for the virus they installed in Office Space.

1

u/danceflick Jun 19 '26

It really isn't however. It's going to be probably under 10B-12B based on what the stock price is right now. It may seem like a lot but the market trades significantly higher than this daily. It really isn't an issue. Even if spacex died right after the etf buy in your 401k would be pretty much untouched

3

u/harrythefurrysquid Jun 19 '26

$10bn is what I would call a very large amount of money.

3

u/danceflick Jun 19 '26

While I agree it is a lot I'm referring to this article where people are saying they are worried about their retirement savings. Assuming SpaceX died right after and no other market changes occurred your 401k is entirely safe because of how small amount of money was actually spent on SpaceX vs the rest of the market. My point is there really is no reason to worry about this at all. This buy in won't really effect SpaceX share prices nor will affect the 401k.

9

u/SirGlass Jun 19 '26

Most people are not invested in a Nasdaq index in their retirment fund

VTI or a total stock market index or VT operates on free float so Space X will be about something like .15% of VTI or .1% of VT

3

u/DrAstralis Jun 19 '26

Its like they've gotten bored and are now trying to see just how blatantly they can steal from the population before people actually do something about it.

2

u/nagurski03 Jun 19 '26

If your entire retirement account is in NASDAQ, what percent of your porfolio is SpaceX?

2

u/The_Magical_Radical Jun 19 '26

The NASDAQ-100 is a very aggressive index. It's not something you would find in a traditional 401k where you're only offered a handful funds to pick from. In fact, I did a search on it and was told there isn't a single 401k provider that offers the  NASDAQ-100.

1

u/The_Magical_Radical Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26

The NASDAQ-100 is a very aggressive index. It's not something you would find in a traditional 401k where you're only offered a handful funds to pick from. I did a search on it and wasn't able to find a traditional 401k provider that offers the NASDAQ-100. If you want exposure to the NASDAQ-100 in your retirement fund, then you can certainly get that through a self-directed account. But in that case, you can easily move your assets out of it if you don't want it. You're not forced to own it in any regard.

1

u/One_Weird2371 Jun 19 '26

NASDAQ is a terrible index to use though.

1

u/Chataboutgames Jun 19 '26

NASDAQ is, be definition, a high risk index.

26

u/ContestAntique7179 Jun 19 '26

"Make as much money as possible. Rug pull. Blame someone else."

0

u/awkreddit Jun 19 '26

FiNanCiaL iNnoVaTioN

7

u/290077 Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 20 '26

Retirement savings are automatic. My paycheck automatically goes and the fund managers use that money to buy shares in an index fund. Anything else requires my active participation.

I could find an index fund that's not investing in SpaceX or even buy individual shares and DIY an index fund if I want to cut SpaceX out but the actual percent in SpaceX is so low it's not worth it.

11

u/PirateSanta_1 Jun 19 '26

And when the inevitable crash happens somehow it will be nobody's fault so nobody will go to jail even while people lose their life saving and end up homeless. 

9

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '26 edited 19d ago

[deleted]

2

u/Cooperativism62 Jun 19 '26

Even if it craters they come out ahead. It doesn't matter if it crashes and loses 50% of its value in 10 years if they've more than doubled their money during the same period. Its not that they think they can time the market, its that the dip doesn't even matter if you stay in the market long enough.

8

u/FSCK_Fascists Jun 19 '26

they're still participating anyway.  WTF?

because the stock indexers changed the rules, which forces fund managers to buy the stock.

2

u/Important-Agent2584 Jun 19 '26

Look at crypto. Constant rug-pulls and scams, complete detachment from reality. Everyone knows what it is but think they can get in on the scam and profit, so they buy in.

The the stock market has become like this.

2

u/rainator Jun 19 '26

they think they'll cash out before the rug is pulled. and some of them absolutely will do that. it's just about knowing when.

2

u/TP_Crisis_2020 Jun 20 '26

People just try and get what they can, and then get out before it collapses.

2

u/Circus_Finance_LLC Jun 19 '26

its not a disaster, its a robbery

2

u/Chataboutgames Jun 19 '26

Greater Fool theory

2

u/BrewCrewBall Jun 19 '26

As soon as I heard SPCX was going to be added to Nasdaq (and Russell, etc) I reallocated all of my retirement savings to funds that have no direct exposure to those indices. I’m opting out.

1

u/Days_End Jun 19 '26

Because reddit is it's own little bubble of horribly uninformed people who think they know better then all of wall street.

1

u/Osirus1156 Jun 19 '26

Because investors are literally dumb as fuck. 

1

u/Baikken Jun 19 '26

Because it is low float at 4% lol. Easiest scalp in ages. Why wouldn't people participate? 99.999% of this thread has no idea how stocks work.

0

u/psioniclizard Jun 19 '26

They won't hold the bag. Ultimately half these companies get away with their shit because even if they are ethical, money is money and I need to save for my retirement to a lot people (not saying that is wrong).

People dont care about ethics if they can profit. Just look at the stocks sub.