I would think a 401k and other retirement vehicle would be a much better way to force people to save. With a house, you can tap the equity without penalty. So if you do too often, you’re basically renting. While 401k and the like, you’ll be hit w/ a penalty if you withdraw. If you quit or change jobs, you would have to pay back the loan you made of it. You can also only borrow 1/2 of the money you have in there. Bottom line is, they make it very hard to borrow. Also, since it’s automatic, people don’t see it in their pay check, so they adjust their spending accordingly. Savers will be savers regardless of what they use to save it in, i.e. retirement account or a house. A spender will spend. Even if they have a house, they would tap the equity to satisfy their spending habit. So I guess, nothing can force people to save except themselves.
