The 401k was a mistake for the 90% of US workers who were unable to find their way to a low-fee S&P 500 index fund or other suitable investment. The folks who post on this board are, for the most part, among the 10% of 401k winners.

Wall Street's business model requires them to take 2% per year in fees, commissions and costs from the average customer. Over a 50 or 60 year investing lifetime (i.e., 25 or 30 years saving for retirement, and God-willing, 25 to 30 years spending the money in retirement.)

At a 2% annual fee, the "skim" takes half the value of the account over 50 to 60 years. Even Vanguard's low-cost Personal Advisor Service with the 0.30% annual fee claims 10% of your wealth.

Some small company 401k plans have fees and costs as high as 5% per year. You'd almost do as well taking your monthly 401k contribution in cash and setting it ablaze on the veranda.

Labor economist and long-time retirement planning researcher Teresa Ghilarducci has a new book on the subject (Work, Retire, Repeat: The Uncertainty of Retirement ..). She discusses the failings of the US retirement system in the podcast at this link:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7s6qs0s7c2Vm7bVqe...

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