Q: You've urged us to maximize our contributions to IRAs and tax-deferred retirement plans. Now I hear that the Clinton administration wants to tax or confiscate these plans. How dangerous is this?

A: The chances of taxing or confiscating pensions and retirement accounts are remote, even under Clinton. It would be terribly unpopular. The only trial balloon raised by the current administration is a recommendation to require 30% of pensions to invest in government securities, but I don't give it much chance unless there is a national emergency. While I do recommend investing in tax-deferred retirement programs to the maximum, I also recommend private investments (coins, collectibles, foreign accounts, etc.) as an independent source of wealth, free from government snooping.