Originally Posted by Std Deviation

As a side note the 401K was never designed as a stand alone retirement vehicle. It was envisioned as a tax haven for already highly compensated executives. "We know we're already paying you $500,000 a year and any raises will get sacked with taxes so how about if we match your money in a tax deferred account?"

Companies quickly figured they could save costs by dropping pensions and adding 401Ks, and they duped the middle and lower class working poor into thinking they had done them a favor.