This is why traditional pensions were usually a better deal for most employees.
Exactly it means juicing the stock market, which the fed can do by lowering interest rates etc.
> If you happen to reach retirement age in a down market, you're kinda just screwed.
That's why you're supposed to allocate more of your money to bonds as you approach retirement.
I've never seen a professional job that didn't include a pension - certainly not in the tech industry.
Pensions are defined benefit. That is, it is specified exactly how much money you will receive in retirement.
A 401K retirement plan is not a pension. You save your own money and possibly an employer contribution, and you make your own investment decisions. The value goes up and down in accordance with what you invested in.
Are we both talking about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/401(k)?
"In the United States, a 401(k) plan is the tax-qualified, defined-contribution pension"
Today, very few workers still have pensions, but the few that do tend to be those represented by a union. In many states, this includes government employees: teachers, firefighters, police, etc.