There are definitely problems with the 401(k) system but I think the article missed a couple of the big ones or misattributed causes: 1. High fees - this is la

There are definitely problems with the 401(k) system but I think the article missed a couple of the big ones or misattributed causes: 1. High fees - this is largely because as an employee you're stuck with whatever 401(k) provider your company signed a contract with and which funds are available to invest into. Instead of letting you invest up to the annual limit into the most competitive brokerage account (just like you would for an IRA) and taking a deduction on your taxes. 2. Contribution limits - I'm not actually sure why these exist (maybe someone could educate me). As long as you can't touch the money before age 59.5 (and maybe disallow or restrict borrowing), why is there any sort of limit at all? There's two possible ways uncapped 401(k) might play out - a. people spend most of their money, put the rest into 401(k) - no different than what's happening right now, little different to income tax collected b. people spend a judicious amount of money, put most of it into 401(k) - these people (for now, a minority) would pay significantly less in income taxes. But they'd continue working through to at least 59.5 and they'd be financially secure upon retirement and likely to need less government assistance 3. Availability and complexity - As things stand, there's a 2-tier (or even 3-tier, if you count self-employed 401(k)) retirement savings system in America. There's IRA (Roth and traditional) which anyone can access, but has lower limits and less favorable tax treatment at higher incomes. There's 401(k) which has the problems I described above, plus you need to work at an employer that offers this benefit which seems unfair to people who aren't so fortunate. And there's the self-employed 401(k) which I know almost nothing about except that it has a higher contribution limit ($54k). No wonder most people struggle to manage their retirement savings; it's a very complex system that provides preferential tax treatment to people based on their job and employer. Also, this gem about pensions: > Unlike defined-benefit pensions, which provide set payouts for life, 401(k) accounts rise and fall with financial markets. I consider this a bug, not a feature. Pensions pay out the same amount of money to retirees regardless of market performance but the pension fund itself is still invested in the market. They're shielding current beneficiaries from market performance at the expense of future beneficiaries by (IIUC) raiding principal to pay out yields that haven't been realized. (correct me if I'm missing something here)