What's most interesting here is that the promoted solutions are untested. We won't know how well IRA/401k etc works until we get a couple of generations under our belt who use that system instead of pensions. So, unfortunately, I'm thinking the GenX'ers and the Millennials will be the involuntary guinea pigs as they age into retirement. If it doesn't work, there will be little we can do for those generations of retirees.

I can't say whether or not individual funded retirement will work? But just back of the napkin sort of guesstimate at whether a lifetime of saving plus interest can net you 30 years of livable yearly interest or drawdowns (assuming social security) + the necessary medicare supplements/or health insurance? I don't know? It seems unlikely. And again, all that is under the rosy scenario where social security still exists. If social security is changed, the picture is even more bleak.

I could be wrong, but I think people are going to need to acclimate themselves to working through much of retirement. How much will likely depend on how well you did saving. But I suspect a sizable majority of GenX and Millennials will have no choice in the matter.

Watching the current retirees may make us sad, but these scenarios may be nothing compared to what's coming.