I already commented on

this post in Monkey Mama's blog but I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Am I the only shmoe who has worked for small/family-owned type companies with absolutely no 401(k) plan - stuck with having to put away a measly $4,000 maximum a year toward retirement?

Does this seem wrong to anyone else out there? I am already penalized because I work for a small company, probably struggling to make a decent wage and on top of that, the government tells me that I can not save more than $4000/year in the only retirement vehicle available to me!!! This steams me.

I can *almost* understand making a cap on IRA contributions if you already have a 401(k), but to tell people whose only retirement account is a Roth IRA that they're gonna have to suck it up and live on those $4,000/yr contributions come retirement age, well what might be the incentive to work for a small business at all...unless you happen to own it (then you can open a SIMPLE IRA or a SEP IRA and save more). But, if you are the jackass working for him you are completely screwed.

...or am I missing something? ???

I am officially starting to worry about how we are going to pay for the bills that come due in Feb/March. My life insurance is due (which is approximately $700) and I also have to pay $850 for my hygiene licensure exams. Basically, I am only worried because the exam fees are an extra that I have not been saving for over the past months (unlike the life insurance which is in my spending plan). I just don't know where I am going to find the extra money as things are pretty tight already. I do know that one way or another I will find the money even if I have to borrow from a realative (which is an absolute last resort).

We shall see.