Not to get all Marxist - but using IRA's/401k's to get labor to go all-in on the stock-market was one hell of a judo move by the American capital class.

A pension might have been swell if you planned on working at pan am for half a century. I can take my IRA anywhere. The worker is unshackled from the pension purse their employer dangled over their head to keep them complicit and loyal to the executive board for decades.

This. They're no longer tied to the employer in hopes of good retirement, they can instead shop around for raises/skills. Which is more money which can be self-invested back into the self-pension/401k. In 401k matching situations, this means more matched, too, instead of an arbitrary salary promise after retirement.

I do not have numbers for comparison of pension vs 401k/self-funded pension. Though I'd love to see what either gets you in similar contributions.

I had to reread your comment several times before I think I parsed it correctly. "Labor" is people, right? But not the same people as "The American Capital Class"?

Anyway, I'm pretty sure there are bond and cash options in most retirement accounts, if the stock market isn't your thing.

And my original comment wasn't really saying I'm happy about the rising costs of health care, just pointing out a small silver lining to it, or maybe just an idea of how to make it hurt less.

I think its fantastic both ways, it helps both sides close a gap. When you have a large divide between, then you get general intents to tax, seize and punish stocks. In argentina, whenever the stock market goes up 5% the marxist-left goes bonkers on all fronts saying the economy is tanking and workers are being robbed. Literally.