Why Your Retirement Isn't Safe
The pension was a promise. The 401(k) is a lottery ticket.
TL;DR
In 1950, 50% of private workers had pensions. Today: 15%. Companies transferred all retirement risk to you via 401(k)s. Your account balance is paper claims on extraction—requiring healthcare denial, rent increases, and debt collection to keep rising. The market crashes every 10-15 years. You absorb the loss. They call it "personal responsibility."
"Your 401(k) balance isn't wealth. It's a lottery ticket that requires extraction to continue forever. The Fund is the house. Own the house."
The Promise They Broke
In the 1950s and 60s, retirement was simple. Work for a company for 30 years. Retire with a pension that paid you until you died. The company bore the risk. They made a promise, and they kept it.
The Great Risk Transfer
1950s-1970s
The Pension Era
~50% of private workers had defined benefit pensions. Company guaranteed income for life.
1978
Revenue Act Creates 401(k)
A small provision intended for executive bonuses. Companies saw a way out.
1980s-2000s
The Great Shift
Companies froze pensions, pushed workers into 401(k)s. "Personal responsibility." "Control your own destiny."
2024
Pensions Nearly Extinct
Only 15% of private workers have pension access. All risk transferred to you.
Defined Benefit (Pension)
- ✓Guaranteed income for life
- ✓Company bears market risk
- ✓Professional management
- ✓Can't outlive your money
- ✓No decisions required
Risk holder: Company
Defined Contribution (401k)
- ✗Account balance, no guarantee
- ✗You bear all market risk
- ✗You pick funds (against pros)
- ✗Can outlive your money
- ✗Constant anxiety and decisions
Risk holder: You
This wasn't an upgrade. It was a heist. The company's liability became your problem.
What Your 401(k) Actually Owns
Open your 401(k). Look at the funds. They're invested in stocks and bonds. But what do those stocks represent?
They're claims on future extraction. Your "wealth" requires the suffering to continue.
Healthcare Stocks
Profits from denying claims, raising premiums, pricing drugs at 10x cost
"UnitedHealth profits when your claim is denied"
REITs & Housing
Profits from raising rents, buying foreclosures, restricting supply
"Blackstone owns 80,000 homes you can't buy"
Financial Stocks
Profits from student loans, overdraft fees, credit card interest
"Navient profits from debt you can't discharge"
Consumer Goods
Profits from PE rollups, shrinkflation, wage suppression
"Toys R Us employees lost pensions, PE got $400M"
The Uncomfortable Math
For your retirement to work under the current system, you need:
- →Healthcare companies to keep denying claims and raising premiums
- →Landlords to keep raising rents on people who can't afford homes
- →Banks to keep collecting interest on people drowning in debt
- →The extraction to continue forever
Your retirement depends on other people's suffering. That's not a flaw—it's the design.
The Ponzi Dynamics
Here's something nobody tells you about 401(k)s:
When you retire, you need someone to buy your shares.
You can't eat stock. You can't pay rent with ETF units. At some point, you have to sell. And someone has to be on the other side of that trade.
The Demographic Math
76M
Baby Boomers retiring
vs
who will buy their shares?
67M
Millennials entering peak earning
More sellers than buyers = prices fall
This is why they tell you to "stay in the market." Not because it's good for you—because the system needs your money to keep flowing in so earlier investors can cash out.
Musical chairs, but with retirement accounts.
The Crash Cycle
The market crashes. It always does. Every 10-15 years, like clockwork.
1987
Black Monday
-22.6%
Single day
2000
Dot-Com Crash
-49%
Over 2 years
2008
Financial Crisis
-57%
$2.4T in 401ks lost
2020
COVID Crash
-34%
Single month
Next?
???
???
It will happen
Every Single Time
The system requires you to gamble. Some lose. That's not a bug.
The Real Question
People ask: "Won't changing the system crash the market and hurt my retirement?"
They have it backwards.
The market will crash. It always does. The question isn't IF but WHEN and HOW.
Uncontrolled Crash
Status Quo
- • Market crashes when it crashes
- • No floor beneath you
- • Healthcare still tied to employment
- • Housing still costs 40% of income
- • You absorb 100% of the loss
- • "Stay the course" until you can't
Controlled Transition
The Commonwealth
- • Phased transition over 12+ years
- • Floor catches you regardless
- • Healthcare is provision (covered)
- • Housing is provision (covered)
- • The floor is your real security
- • Paper value ≠ actual security
The Fund as Retirement
Think about what retirement actually is. What are you saving for?
| You're Saving For | 401(k) Approach | Fund Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare when old | Hope balance covers premiums | Provision: covered |
| Housing security | Hope balance covers rent/mortgage | Provision: covered |
| Food | Hope balance covers groceries | Provision: covered |
| Income for life | Hope balance doesn't run out | Dividend: guaranteed |
| Not burden children | Hope. Just hope. | System handles it |
The dividend is retirement income. The provision is what retirement buys.
Your actual retirement security increases even if the number on your statement decreases. You trade uncertain paper claims for guaranteed real goods.
The Trade You Were Always Trying to Make
Your 401(k) balance isn't the goal. It's a means to an end.
You saved money so you could buy: healthcare, housing, security, dignity, freedom from work, time with family.
The Fund provides all of these directly.
You don't need
$1,000,000
in paper claims on extraction
if you have
That's not a loss. That's the trade you were always trying to make—you just couldn't see through the financial engineering.
Stop betting on extraction. Own the house.
See the Solution →Frequently Asked Questions
Why did companies switch from pensions to 401(k)s?
Companies shifted retirement risk from themselves to workers. A pension is a promise the company must keep. A 401(k) is an account you manage yourself. When the market crashes, the company loses nothing. You lose everything.
What happens to my 401(k) if the market crashes?
You absorb the loss. In 2008, Americans lost $2.4 trillion in retirement accounts. They were told to 'stay the course.' Many near retirement had to keep working. The risk that used to be the company's is now entirely yours.
Is there a better retirement system?
The American Prosperity Fund provides retirement security through ownership, not speculation. The dividend is income. The provision is healthcare and housing. You don't need paper claims on extraction when you have guaranteed real goods.
What does my 401(k) actually own?
Paper claims on extraction. Your portfolio includes healthcare stocks (profits from denied claims), REITs (profits from rent increases), financial stocks (profits from debt collection). Your retirement requires the suffering to continue. That's the design.
How often does the stock market crash?
Every 10-15 years: Black Monday (1987: -22.6%), Dot-Com (2000: -49%), Financial Crisis (2008: -57%), COVID (2020: -34%). Each time you're told to 'stay the course.' Each time near-retirees are devastated. The next crash will happen. The question is whether you have a floor.
