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1. Neither employers nor employees are asking for alternative investments in 401k plans. It’s coming from the investment fund companies. (And I suspect some of them are being coerced.) There won’t be 100% private equity/ private credit/ crypto investment funds. Instead, there will be a small “sleeve” of alternative investments in the funds — maybe 5% of the fund is invested in alternatives. The new US Department of Labor rules remove the legal risk for an employer to choose this type of fund to offer as an investment option in its 401k.

   The funds that will most likely have an alternative “sleeve” will be target date funds (XYZ Target Date Retirement 2050, for example). Most 401k plans offer target date funds and use them as the default investment. Target date funds are the most popular 401k investments.

   There are about $50 trillion in 401k plans. If half of 401k assets are invested in target date funds and (eventually) there’s a 5% alternative sleeve in almost all target date funds, that’s over $1 trillion invested in alternative investments through 401k plans.

   401k plan participants will not have their entire account wiped out by private equity, private credit, or crypto. Instead, each participant will have 5% or less of their account at risk in these investments. Not so much that a single person will get upset about it, but still $1 trillion in the aggregate invested in alternatives.

   Not all private equity/credit is bad. But the alternative investments that will need to be snuck into 401k plans will most likely be garbage. They wouldn’t be open to retail investors otherwise.

   1. Just went looking for the latest total – From Statistics Canada:
      US retirement funds – $49.1 trillion (12/31/25) consisting of IRAs: $19.2 trillion Defined contribution (DC) plans: $14.2 trillion total, of which 401(k) plans held $10.1 trillion, $1.5 trillion in 403(b) plans, $880 billion in other private-sector DC plans, and $550 billion in 457 plans. Government defined benefit plans (federal, state, local): $10.0 trillion. Private-sector defined benefit plans: $3.1 trillion, plus $2.6 trillion in annuity reserves outside retirement accounts.

      If they take this next step each participant will have 5% or less. However, if you look at the precedent of essentially providing an indemnity shield to Erisa administrators, along what is happening in the index funds, not sure how long it will take to pour more garbage in. There is a serious governance problem. Once upon a time families controlled their own savings and investments. Looks like the pendulum may have to swing back that way.

2. I collect rain water and purify it. Mostly I use it on my garden. Cistern water is drinkable in a crisis if we cant afford a water well.

   Thanks for your incredibly valuable insights about banking, investments and politics.

   PS. New Orleans French Quarter was the first to use facial recognition tech. New Orleans will likely be the next Gaza is my guess. I live just north of the city.

3. Dear Catherine,
   I would like to quote you from Money and Markets of June 4, 2026: “The Germans are doing everything they can, to start a war with Russia.”
   Fortunately, I can only say that about our government, implemented by whomever. We must not forget that Mr. Merz was once CEO of Black Rock Germany and was invited to the Bilderberg meeting just before the election. Ms. von der Leyen’s connections across the pond are legion.
   We, “the Germans”, watch in amazement as we are instrumentalized. What gives me hope is that it just won’t work to make us hate the Russians. I mean, people from the former Soviet republics live among us by the hundreds of thousands, and in general we get along very well.
   I have not yet met anyone who would volunteer for a campaign to the East.
   I have one request. Please say in future that the German government is doing everything it can to start a war with Russia. It would strengthen the self-confidence of our people if they were (finally) perceived as a self-thinking group and no longer lumped together with a government that was elected by a small fraction of us in the first place.
   You know only too well how much power language has.
   With great gratitude for your and Mr. Titus’ work,
   Yours, Brigitte Bohnet

   1. Sorry, I assume that it is understood that I am referring to the German political class, not everyone else who will never support the war other than through confiscation and taxes.

4. Alabama votes however Trump tells them to. Period. They just voted a pro patriot act, grifter, pedophile protector, war monger again. Every time Alabama has the option to vote not-Deep- State, they choose Deep State. If the candidate is Trump endorsed, they win.

   1. Don’t know Alabama. I am watching election after election where the machine produced the result, not the voters.

5. Ms. Catherine Austin Fitts and Mr. John Titus,

   Something that often comes to mind while listening to your analyses is a strategic paradox.

   Your work is powerful because it is clear, precise and often remarkably accurate. As a result, many people become aware of developments and their possible consequences.

   But if the systems you describe are as sophisticated as they appear to be, then surely they are listening as well.

   That raises a question.

   If resistance can be mapped, measured and anticipated, does resistance itself become part of the feedback loop that helps perfect the system?

   Historically, land confiscation, displacement and the restructuring of ownership are not new phenomena. They have appeared repeatedly throughout history, often during periods of crisis or conflict. The deeper question may not be what is being taken, but what is being uprooted, and for what purpose.

   Sometimes I wonder whether direct opposition is always the most effective response.

   In some martial arts, the energy of the opponent is not resisted head-on but redirected. The strength of the attack becomes part of the solution.

   Could something similar exist in society?

   What would a response look like that does not merely oppose a global consolidation of power, but changes the dynamics of the game itself, person by person, community by community?

   I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts on that.

6. I’m gettting a indicator of no video file. Thought you should know.
   I like to watch Catherine and John during the Money & Markets discussion.

   1. What browser are you using? Please use Firefox or Safari. We are trying to understand why Google Chrome is a problem – don’t know that it can be fixed and don’t recommend using Google in general.

7. John, I’m excited about reading your latest installment of Bankocracy and the debate between you and Catherine.

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