[fargolime]

Those EU countries don't need to achieve 7% annual returns because they won't pay as much as 2/3, nor allow retirement as soon as age 55. Their models are much more sustainable.

It's going to get interesting in the US, as an increasing percentage of private sector retirees are scraping by on an average $1K a month whilst public sector retirees are enjoying cruises and taxes are being raised (or services reduced) to fund them.