[mktmkr]

Curious what you think is deficient about only having a 401k (and, presumably, Social Security) as a retirement plan. Isn't this the entire sales pitch of Vanguard, that you put a couple of bucks in your 401k every week and then you retire?

I'm not personally all-in on IRAs, but it seems like an accepted strategy.

[autoexec]

I don't think any of them are so sure their 401ks and Social security will be reliable. People who were depending on their 401ks in 2008 were horrified while their savings just started disappearing. Social Security was never intended to be enough for people to live off of and my entire life people have been concerned about how/if it can continue into the future. A lot of Republicans would love to see the Social security program ended entirely and these days who knows if those folks will end up in a position where they can make that happen.

[ryandrake]

I think whether defined-contribution retirement is a successful experiment is yet to be determined. I’m in my 40s and everyone I have opened up to about finances and who have reciprocated have admitted to having savings that are totally inadequate, by one or two orders of magnitude. And these are people in tech, better off than average. Few people I know expect to be able to retire and keep their standard of living.

The median American has around $10k in savings and 30% of us have less than $1000. The median savings for people of retirement age is a mere $100k, which isn’t enough to live on for more than a few years in most cities. I’m not sure how self-funded retirement is really expected to work.

All of the people I know who are comfortably retired are on old school defined-benefit pensions. AFAIK 401k-dependent retirees have not yet hit critical mass, so we haven’t seen the financial catastrophe that may be coming.

[e40]

Presumably their 401k's are not that beefy. That's the way I read the comment.

[redis_mlc]

The 401k was originally created to supplement employer pensions.

The author was horrified when he found out that employers were then dropping their plans and moving employees to 401k-only.

That should tell you all you need to know.

[yardie]

There is an entire class of people who are living paycheck to paycheck. And have a lifetime of part-time, minimum wage work. How much do you think they have in savings and 401k?

[autoexec]

> There is an entire class of people who are living paycheck to paycheck.

Like over 75% of all full time workers in America. If you aren't living paycheck to paycheck you're much better off than the vast majority of the nation.