[tezzer]

Pensions pay (paid?) regardless of how the stock market is doing, and they pay for life. They grow with inflation, and you don't need to know anything about stocks, markets, funds, rebalancing or anything else to benefit. It was an elegant weapon for a more civilized age. If it wasn't mismanaged and raided. Incidentally, today only 1/3 of working Americans have 401ks.

[ghaff]

"More civilized age" also mostly meant people working for an extended period of time, e.g. 10-years plus, for a single employer.

And, even if an employer doesn't offer a 401(k) these days, there are generally other tax-advantaged savings mechanisms although they, of course, don't get employer contributions.