As a younger person, it honestly amazes me to learn 401(k) is not and was not designed to be a retirement plan. It's something I've heard the "grown ups" talk about constantly since childhood as being exactly that. And yet:
401(k)s are spoken about as if they were a gold standard for retirement, but now that I really analyze it, everyone who says that is someone who "doesn't know shit about fuck."
Isn't this a level of ignorance that transcends irritation and becomes actively dangerous? People, many older people, actually are depending on these plans and dutifully paying into them, or have been dutifully paying into them already for decades—without knowing what they are? The 401(k) system isn't even old, they're only from the 1980s. The fact that their true purpose is forgotten actually startles me because of the level of cultural amnesia involved.
They may be a skimming a bunch off the top, but isn't the point that they're tax advantaged? So, even though they might be taking a lot of fees, you might be willing to pay those fees to get access to the tax benefits.
The 60 Minutes guy is wrong about the fees. That's not the problem. The problem is that the tax advantage is deceptively being offset by debasement of the currency. The individual saves a few thousand on taxes, but loses tens of thousands in overall quality of life since the government is printing money to make up for the missing tax revenue. A tax advantage is only a real benefit if it genuinely impairs the government's ability to do things.
But of course that discussion can't be platformed on 60 Minutes.
The BS started in the early 1990s when industries went aggressive in getting rid of the traditional pension retirement program. 401ks were sold as the next best thing and the retirement tool message stuck.
I'll bite: what is their true purpose? You had me going there to find out, but i'm not gonna watch the video rn to find out.