If retirement funds were managed like a trust fund for each person then there would never be a “funds not available” day. But with defined benefits and not much control on company responsibilities toward funding it is the magic honey pot and all defined benefit programs will eventually fail. Nobody any more has the fortitude to handle fiduciary responsibility for long term for thousands of other people.
All defined benefit programs should be converted to either trustee managed “conservative market based” returns or individual managed 401K funds with options for stocks, bonds, mutual funds.
One of my aunts worked for Tupperware for almost 30 years. Months before her retirement they announce the defined benefit fund was empty. She survived two abusive husbands, raised two kids on her own, faced never being able to retire, got cancer and still went back to work for another 10 years going through protracted cancer care including chemo. She died worn out but left her teen/young adult kids a modest house to build their lives from.
The financial markets are not what they were 40-60 years ago. Whether retirement fund, stocks, bonds, or real estate. Any pretense of law and order are gone. Customer accounts can be robbed. CDs can be defaulted on. It is basically like Las Vegas casinos: there are rules, house rules, which guarantee the house wins over the long term and the individual is just grist for the mill. Each person now needs to be nimble and ready for any aspect to be stolen or collapsed and have fall back plans.
