[lotsofpulp]

Almost every state and local government agency is underfunded, many in the billions of dollars. The reasoning is that they can always just raise future taxes, which allows for huge agency risk of politicians buying union votes. The politician gets elected, the current union members get paid, and the future taxpayers and union members who aren't voting get shafted.

401ks aren't perfect, but it's better than the above system. There's a reason no one sells annuities even close to what the government offers in it's pension benefits. It's ridiculously costly without using funny numbers.