[dragontamer]

> it's not 100% your fault if your 401k plan only offers poorly-performing, high fee funds as many do.

Well, IRAs and Roth IRAs are the competitor in that realm. I don't trust most people to handle their own funds in an "automatic" 401k plan however. How many "normal" people do you know who has a Roth IRA for example?

Not a lot. A ton of people I know even pull money from their 401k early for luxurious reasons. (It makes sense to do so in an emergency. But not for like... a Euro-trip or Cruise Vacation like some people in my circle...)

Honestly, each time I hear about stupid personal finance stories like that, I wish that those people were on a pension instead. There's a lot of stupid out there.

[emodendroket]

That's exactly the problem. We've moved to a system where the individual bears all the risks and is supposed to know what he's doing. But what if the individual doesn't? Are we going to just accept an explosion of old-age destitution? Are we going to pay to mitigate it some other way?