>Pensions were great, because you couldn't ransack them as a participant.
Yes, because they would already be ransacked by the board of trustees for the pension plan. Or future taxpayers would be ransacked by underfunding in the case of taxpayer funded pensions. The government tried to stop the ransacking with PPA 2006, and apparently a properly funded defined benefit pension plan is incredibly expensive (surprise), so of course companies would drop them.
There's no reason for me to give control of my savings to a third party, especially now that I can buy VOO or whatever index fund I want at almost no cost.
Yes, because they would already be ransacked by the board of trustees for the pension plan. Or future taxpayers would be ransacked by underfunding in the case of taxpayer funded pensions. The government tried to stop the ransacking with PPA 2006, and apparently a properly funded defined benefit pension plan is incredibly expensive (surprise), so of course companies would drop them.
There's no reason for me to give control of my savings to a third party, especially now that I can buy VOO or whatever index fund I want at almost no cost.