401(k)s are a sham: Duped by a DIY retirement dream, elderly face staggeringly low living standards

[merrily]

175. As people near retirement or enter it, they are likelier and likelier to suffer catastropic

circumstances.

And, as another poster pointed out, being laid off is a catastrophic circumstance. So is losing a lot of your non-retirement investments in the stock market. So is all of the above happening at one time.

A relative of mine lost his job when his employer died during the worst of the recent economic collapse. With a wife and a kid in elementary school, my relative was unemployed for over a year. Although he was just over 50, the economic stress (we think) caused him to have a stroke. This is someone with a graduate degree who is extremely conscientious and extremely devoted to his small nuclear family.

His wife now does catering out of her home, no doubt in violation of many local codes, and works in a laundromat, washing and folding clothes. (She is from the Philippines. While intelligent, her English is heavily accented, so she could not even get a job serving coffee and pastry at Starbucks, which she sought at first because of the health insurance.)

He now has two jobs, each with its own commute. He also has a real estate license, which he could not do a thing with during the year he was unemployed, nor now, because he has so little time and energy. (His wife also has her license, but it doesn't do her any good either.)

There's a family that helps make the employment stats look great though. Four jobs where there used to be only one relatively good paying job. Then again, both the wife's jobs are off book, so my relative did his part only as far as doubling how good employment looks today.

Mostly, I agree with this. http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026003819#post32 (eridani's reply 32)