Thanks to ERIC for this link to the CNBC interview with House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller where he gives his view that the 401(k) plan system has failed and needs replacing.
Excerpt from the ERIC Press Release:
Using the current financial crisis as a starting point, the House Education and Labor Committee expressed concern over the retirement assets of American workers at an October 7 hearing. Although fewer than 10 Democrats and only one Republican member of the committee attended, the hearing garnered major media attention in national newspapers and on television and radio. While the intent of the hearing was to examine the effect of the financial crisis on retirement savings, the hearing ranged far afield as witnesses and Members called for significant reforms that would fundamentally change the vehicles in which employees can save for retirement.At the end of the day, Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) made it clear that he did not believe that 401(k) plans were intended as a primary means to provide retirement security and, in fact, that they were not fulfilling that objective. Miller, who is also holding a second hearing in his home town of San Francisco on October 14, signaled his intention to open up the retirement debate next year on how best to provide retirement security.
Access previous posts on the subject here.