How bad are we setting up our future retirees?

I am real concerned we are setting the future retirees up for failure. Consider the following facts. The longer article sources are below:

Retirees will pay almost a quarter a million in health care expenses: Of the $240,000 needed to cover a retired couple's health care expenses, Fidelity estimates 32 percent will go toward paying Medicare Part B and Part D premiums; 45 percent will be consumed by expenses not covered by Medicare.

Retirees don't have huge 401k's: Average 401k balances are only $74,000. That by the way is the 2012 number and takes into account the recovery since 2009.

Average savings is low: the average household savings is 18k.

Almost no pension plans are left! As of 2009, there were only 47,000 plans left. In fifteen years, the number plummeted from 110,000 plans. But you may think 47,000 plans sound like a lot.. But 36,000 of those have 100 participants or fewer.

So think about this equation. We have proven that the American population is not great at saving, staying out of debt and managing money in general.. So what are we going to do? Move from pension plans, to programs that give retirees lump sums when they turn 65 and hope they do well?

This isn't intended to spark political dialogue, but more to spark HR dialogue about what does a corporation need to do to ensure employees are well prepared.

---

Original Page: http://www.workforce.com/article/20120509/NEWS01/120509946

401k balances: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-05-01/average-401-k-balance-62-percent-above-2009-fidelity-says

pension plan data: http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/pdf/historicaltables.pdf