The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article by Timothy Martin about how many early proponents of 401(k) plans have expressed dissatisfaction in those plans
were borne out.
Martin’s article proposes a series of actionable plans for American retirement reform; including state-run retirement savings options, mandatory savings plans, and Marco Rubio’s proposal to open the
federal defined contribution system to non-government workers.
But as Slate’s Helaine Olen pointed out, Mr. Martin neglected one major possibility:
expanding Social Security. Both Martin and Olen point out that 401(k) plans frequently fall through because of human error—the smartest and savviest investors find success with those plans, but others are not so
fortunate. As a solution, the expansion of Social Security circumvents this problem.