[bluGill]

Pensions went away because for most they were worse. If you stay at the same company from 25 to 65 and live to 105 they are better than a 401k. However if you found a different job (including because you got laid off) the amount you got was severely reduced (not to zero, but my dad could have got $.75 month starting at 65, if he had joined a pension at 22 when he started in 1975 until 1985 when the nearly bankrupt company finally laid him off. In 1985 he got a job with a company that instead offered a 401k, and there got a small nest egg. If he had stayed at that company until 65 he would have got something like 1000/month, which sounded great in 1973, but there was a lot of inflation in the next decade.

I don't remember exact years or numbers above, but they are close enough for discussion.