If there are low balances in 401Ks, the people selling them are not making much money.

If you’re saying pensions were better for people than 401Ks most people will agree with you. That doesn’t mean 401Ks are bad though. Milk chocolate is great even though Ice Cream is better. If a pension is not available to you, 401Ks and IRAs are the next best thing.

The problem is that Social Security was never intended to be a welfare plan. You can change it into one, and we may have to, but that’s not a trivial change. It’s also not something that all Americans would be willing to accept.

Most 401Ks invest in mutual funds rather than the stock of a singe company. The exception is that some companies will have their own stock one of the options in the 401K plan.

Caps on FICA taxes increase every year. In 2012 the cap was at $110,100, 2013 it was $113,700, 2014 was $117,000, 2015 was $118,500. Those caps on taxes\contributions are paired with caps on benefits\payouts.

The government borrowing from the trust fund affects the deficit but not the viability of Social Security. When they borrowed the money, they issues IOUs. The Social Security views those IOUs as cash when they look at the trust fund, and they’re still saying they’re going to go broke.

Both Canada and New Zealand invest part of their social security money in the private stock market. New Zealand has averaged a +9.4% return on their money each year since 2003 which means they’re up even through the financial crisis. Their 5 year number is +15.69%. That versus our Social Security Trust fund which…

As a Social Security Administration report put it, “The upper limit on the tax was designed to assure that no one contributed directly more than the value of the protection he received.” It also meant that lower earners must pay for their benefits, which the administration says is “one of the basic principles of the…

beermerr that statement is dangerously stupid. 401Ks are have proven to be one of the best devices for retirement savings. Discouraging people to use them, when we already have a savings problem, is extremely reckless.