The rumors were true. Lance Armstrong is coming out of retirement.

"I am happy to announce that after talking with my children, my family, and my closest friends, I have decided to return to professional cycling in order to raise awareness of the global cancer burden," Armstrong said. "This year alone, nearly 8 million people will die of cancer worldwide. Millions more will suffer in isolation, victims not only of the disease but of social stigma. After the passage of Proposition 15 in Texas, a $3 billion investment in the fight against cancer which is helping to make this disease part of the national dialogue in America, it's now time to address cancer on a global level."

You can watch the announcement in his own words here or read this Vanity Fair article about his return.

As gas and grocery prices rise, some cash-strapped older workers are rethinking plans to retire. Some 27 percent of older workers say they are putting off retirement because of the recent economic slowdown, according to a recent AARP telephone survey of 1,002 workers over age 45. Almost 25 percent of people between the ages of 45 and 64 are taking money out of their 401(k)'s and other investments. And younger baby boomers between the ages of 45 and 54 say they are even postponing paying bills (27 percent) and cutting back on medications (17 percent).

"Taking money out of your retirement savings has a compounding effect, because that money is not allowed to grow at a time when you have fewer working years to replace the losses," says Tom Nelson, AARP's chief operating officer. "Even more troubling, shortchanging your healthcare can lead to higher healthcare costs down the road."

Unexpected expenses like medical bills or a death in the family can happen to anyone. And mortgage payments and credit card balances can creep up on you. When you're strapped for cash, the amount you've accumulated in your retirement accounts can look mighty tempting. And it's easy to pay the fee and borrow some cash from your retirement stash.

Some 27 percent of employees planning to retire have withdrawn funds early from retirement investments, according to a recent Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive online survey. The reasons for withdrawing funds before retirement include (with share of all employees who have tapped accounts as a result):

I hate to use the "S" word, but the American government would never do something as, well, socialist as seize private pension funds, right? This is exactly what cash-strapped Argentina just did in the name of protecting workers' retirement accounts (Efharisto, Fausta's Blog). Now, even Uncle Sam isn't that stupid, but some Democrats might try something almost as loopy: kill 401(k) plans.

House Democrats recently invited Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor at the New School of Social Research, to testify before a subcommittee on her idea to eliminate the preferential tax treatment of the popular retirement plans. In place of 401(k) plans, she would have workers transfer their dough into government-created "guaranteed retirement accounts" for every worker. The government would deposit $600 (inflation indexed) every year into the GRAs. Each worker would also have to save 5 percent of pay into the accounts, to which the government would pay a measly 3 percent return. Rep. Jim McDermott, a Democrat from Washington and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee's Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, said that since "the savings rate isn't going up for the investment of $80 billion [in 401(k) tax breaks], we have to start to think about whether or not we want to continue to invest that $80 billion for a policy that's not generating what we now say it should."

Venture capitalist-blogger John Ellis offers up an original fiscal stimulus plan:

Well, it's not mine, actually. It's the brainchild of one Leonard Yablon, my neighbor and friend and the former CFO of Forbes. And it goes like this:

1. Allow individual 401K withdrawals of $12,000 for the next 100 days.

2. Individual withdrawals up to $12,000 will be tax free.

3. The result should be an immediate infusion of $120-$180 billion into the economy.

4. Which should stabilize the markets. There are other plans out there. But the Yablon Plan seems the easiest to get done fast.

With economic pressures mounting, you may think reducing your 401(k) contribution is an easy way to add money to your paycheck. But before you do, consider how it will increase your tax bill.

FORT WORTH (AP) - A newly released report shows that the state teacher retirement system has suffered investment losses that were billions of dollars more than expected.

I posted yesterday about a loopy idea floating around Capitol Hill to shift people out of their 401(k) plans into a government plan. It would be like Social Security: the Sequel. It would also be a $100 billion-a-year tax increase that would hit people making as low as $75,000, according to the plan's author, a prof at the New School of Social Research. My guy Ed Morrissey over at Michelle Malkins's Hot Air site makes a great follow-up point:

I'd suggest that Pethokoukis vastly underestimates the effect this change will have on the stock market. The advent of private tax-deferred retirement accounts created a huge investor class in the U.S. By some estimations, more than 70% of American adults have money in the stock market in long-term investments for their eventual retirement. That's a revolutionary change in the relationship between labor and ownership, one that capitalism succeeded in creating where Marx and his followers only fantasized.

What happens when the tax deferral on this investment ends? Most people won't want to take the risks of the market without it, certainly not on the scale they do today (about $5 trillion in capital) and likely not after the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac collapse. They'll start moving to savings accounts or gold and removing their money from the markets. The flight of capital will eliminate the necessary engine for recovery, but that's a minor point. The price of stock will utterly collapse as everyone looks to liquidate their holdings, crashing Wall Street and throwing tens of millions out of work as publicly-held companies disintegrate.

Bank of America is acquiring Merrill Lynch for $50 billion. U.S. News asked three financial advisers what this means for Merrill Lynch customers and all 401(k) investors. Excerpts:

Steven Dimitriou, a financial adviser and managing partner at Boston's Mayflower Advisors

All 401(k) investors: Strictly as an investor, there is no doubt today's news is awful. It is hurting the markets. But if you have a long-term plan for the next 15 to 20-plus years, it is really more of a buying opportunity than anything. I don't want to say it's a bottom, but it is certainly starting to feel like a bottom. For the 401(k) investor, this is a good time to rebalance and stick with it.

Marilyn Israel has been hired as executive director of the Moldaw Family Residences at 899 Charleston, an under-construction Palo Alto retirement community billed as the area's first Jewish-sponsored senior living center.