[quote=XBoxBoy]
That seems to be the fault of those people, and to be a symptom of moving from defined benefit plans to 401ks. To me the problem mostly stems from people not being savvy enough or responsible enough to plan for their retirement. I don’t know how to fix that lack of knowledge and responsibility. But mostly definitely don’t take that to imply the govt. should fix it.[/quote]
It’s not a problem with defined benefit plans. Those have been around for such a short period of time in human history, nobody knows if they were going to work in the long run. Evidence is starting to pile up that they were never going to work in the first place. A few early retirees in those plans made out but it’s becoming increasingly likely that those nearing retirement in those plans will have them cut in some form once they are retired.
The real problem is that comfortable independent living retirement might not be workable. Our expectations of retirement are a relatively new phenomenon that’s never really been tested for multiple generations. For those in the top 20% that might be workable but it might not be workable for the masses. Multi-generational living or group living is probably going to end up being the solution. The old won’t die destitute but the standard of living is probably going to fall way short of expectations.
