I wouldn't mind a defined pension. It's easier to plan for and also I think more efficient. With a 401k you have to save up a boatload of money just in case. If you live too long you may run out of money, if you don't live long, then you have a lot of money left. So it seems to me that it would be better to average it out over a lot of people. Pretty much the same as with health insurance where one people will need more, some people will need less so it's better to average out out over a large number of people.

you just described an annuity. If you want an annuity buy one, don’t force it on everyone else.

The problem with opt-in annuities is that the seller charges a boatload to account for the risk of your longevity. I guess you would advise buying an annuity and stock in the annuity seller?

My chief complaint about semi-forced annuity purchases is that those that opt-out and retire without savings get back-stopped by the state anyway.

I tell everyone to figure out how much they need to live and put just enough in an annuity to give you that (rent, heat, food, insurance). The rest of your 401k (if anything!) is fun money.

Don't forget that you should have long term care insurance that covers a good nursing home (get this as soon as you retire when it is still cheap because odds are you will never need it).

With this plan you can outlive your savings and still have an okay life.

Are annuities regulated? It seems a pretty straightforward business model to take in payments for a few years and then declaring bankruptcy.

Just because something is regulated doesn’t mean it’s safe and definitely doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed. For example, US social security funds are solvent until 2035 according to our own government accounting[1].

1. https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v70n3/v70n3p111.html

It's not like it will disappear after 2035. Some adjustments have to be made like probably raising the retirement age but that doesn't mean that the system doesn't work.

Public pensions like the ones in Canada would be nice. From both the worker and government perspectives, they provide a lot of stability and can be planned for. Of course, it won't happen in the USA, I think, sounds too socialist for many people on the right.

What public pensions? Canada has the same setup as the US, and in fact, the US Social Security is a larger program per capita than Canada’s (I.e. high payouts).

I'm not familiar with Canada's public pensions. Do you know the difference between them and US social security?

We have basically three programs to provide income to retirees:

1) Canada Pension Plan, a worker-funded defined benefit pension managed by the government via an arms-length investment board.

2) Old Age Security, a guaranteed income program for everyone 65 and older.

3) Registered Retirement Savings Plan, an income tax sheltering program where you can contribute up to 18% of your income into registered accounts and have the contributions deducted from your taxable income. This gets drawn down during retirement for income.

I’m not sure what he’s talking about. We have a social security equivalent, and then you may have an employer pension.

Private companies have mostly stopped their pensions. Government employees usually have pensions, and they’re very well managed.

There are unions that offer their members pensions. These pensions are regulated.