Real simple - unless you don't have significant capital to invest in stocks, real estate or starting your own company, all of which pose varying degrees of risk

Real simple - unless you don't have significant capital to invest in stocks, real estate or starting your own company, all of which pose varying degrees of risk that you will fritter away your nest egg and end up with nothing to retire on. $30,000 is not a small quantity of money for most families living paycheck to paycheck (US median income $44k) with 30-year home loans. Nor is it a large quantity of money to invest with. If you happen to reach your late 50s without having already invested a fair bit and you still aren't making a lot of money, griping about the government isn't going to help you as much as dumb old social security. If that's what it takes for some people to survive, I'm not criticizing them for it just because I've had a much easier time.