While true, I think this comes back to a 'power in numbers' thing. Most Americans aren't smart enough to run a 401k, much less smart enough to plan for retirement. If companies took those matches and 401k fees and pumped them in to investments themselves for pension plans, retirement would be much more manageable for most Americans. I think it's easy to forget how not average we are just by means of having this conversation. The average American is more like a Jerry Springer guest than anyone you'll meet on this board. Confirmation bias is a tough thing to overcome.TimeForGuinness wrote:You aren't forced to have a 401k. If you have one, you aren't forced to invest in high risk funds.
401ks, however, allow companies to save money when financially ignorant employees start and don't put money in to their 401k. It passes those pension management fees off to the employee. 401k's were never about giving employees choices, options, freedoms and opportunities but saving businesses money. It's probably also the reason, and I can't find the exact number, new grads work for many, many more companies than their parents. NO reason to stick around if you don't have a pension.
