Editing 401(k) (section)

===Insufficiency of retirement savings===

The amount of money available in retirement from defined-contribution plans like 401(k)s varies considerably depending on the amount contributed and performance of investments. Reliance on these plans instead of defined-benefit pensions and the small fraction of earnings replaced by government programs like [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]] means many people have an insufficient amount of money for retirement. According to US Census data, in 2017, 49% of Americans aged 55 to 66 had "no personal retirement savings".<ref name="mistake" /> This gap can force people to choose between continuing to work into old age (if they are healthy enough to do so) and living in poverty.

One bipartisan proposal to address this problem is to open the defined-benefit [[Thrift Savings Plan]] to all employees (currently it is only for federal government employees).<ref name="mistake" />