This got more pickup than my online columns usually do.
Anyway, I'm trying to make the point that we both have a crisis and a failed experiment. The crisis is that a bunch of people in and nearing retirement just don't have enough in retirement savings to supplement their meager Social Security benefits. At current returns, $120K in retirement savings buys you about a $650/month annuity. With a two earner household, both still living with median Social Security benefits, that gets you to $36K annual gross income. If you have a paid off house...I suppose you'll manage decently enough, but otherwise.
The failed experiment is that I cannot see plausibly how we can expect the situation to be any better for the current young people. They're starting their adult lives deep in debt already.
Fred Thompson to the rescue, I guess.
