Social Insecurity: 401(k)s and the Retirement Crisis

Retirement expert Russell (Double Standard) offers a sobering and persuasive analysis of the gradual shift from more secure defined-benefit plans (pensions) to riskier defined-contribution plans (401(k)s). When he retired at age 65, Russell should have had 70%–100% of his final salary as income, according to conventional wisdom, but despite a frugal lifestyle, he had only 45%–50% of his income, between his 401(k) and projected Social Security. Russell suggests that confusion about retirement saving leads average Americans to become the victims of a swindle perpetrated by think tanks and the financial services industry. He explains how popular economic theory, led by Milton Friedman’s Chicago School, turned against Social Security, and traces changes during the Reagan administration, when more companies switched from pensions to 401(k)s. Russell led a successful movement in his own company to switch back to pensions. As he notes, there’s now an international movement to go back to a plan where most retirement income is bolstered by pensions and Social Security—“the most successful retirement program by far in terms of the number of people who have benefited.” He closes with suggestions for how to put that plan into effect. The book is a hair-raising look at the dire retirement prospects of tens of millions of Americans. Agent: Scott Mendel, Mendel Media Group. (Apr.)