Comment by ryandrake

We don't really know yet if the 401k experiment is going to be successful. People retiring right now are by and large the earliest beta testers of the 401k idea. My parents and their parents had typical Defined Benefit pensions, and they were all able to simply enjoy their retirements without having to lift a finger to understand the stock market and index funds and tax rules and without needing to micromanage some brokerage account. They never had to worry about contribution limits, IRAs vs. 401k, Roth vs. non-Roth, asset allocation, the right investments for pre-tax vs post-tax money, rules about withdrawing contributions vs. earnings, having to guess what year they'll die to pick the right draw-down rate. They just worked, retired, and money magically came in. You have to admire the simplicity.