Dow soars to 4-year high

[WinniSkipper]

70. I agree with your first two paragraphs

I think business ethics are not what they once were. To put it mildly.

However - I think the 401K is a much better option than a pension. I do not want my retirement in the hands of a board of directors. I do not want my retirement in the hands of a greedy CEO who sees a pension fund as leverage to make a boatload for himself. I want to control my money. Not a company, and not the government. And there are available resources for people to learn about 401ks. It is their money - people do have a responsibility to learn how it works. At least understanding the basics of of what types of funds to have their money in at certain stages of their lives. Anyone within 10 years of retirement who had their money heavily in stocks rather than a more stable investment was running a risk. The market fluctuates.

Is it an ideal system? No. But nobody is forced into it. People do not have to sign up for a 401K. You can take your money and put it under a mattress if you want.

The point is that we have/had a successful model for stable and secure pensions here and it was deliberately dismantled in order to coerce the workforce into the financial industry's game.

But that model proved NOT to be successful. Because of greed of the companies. And because how many people now spend an entire career with the same company? How many of those companies are even around when someone retires? If I look back on my career, only one company is still around in it's original form. Companies go broke, and with them goes the pension