Americans, and the elected officials who represent them, are worried about retirement. Majorities of Americans tell pollsters they fear a "retirement crisis" of inadequate savings and incomes in old age. Some argue that our system of 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts layered on top of a base income from Social Security is an abject failure. Only a complete reboot that expands Social Security and abandons 401(k)s can avert the retirement crisis. But what if the entire narrative is wrong?

Andrew G. Biggs is a senior fellow at AEI, where he studies Social Security reform, state and local government pensions, and public-sector pay and benefits. He holds a bachelor's degree from Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland, master's degrees from Cambridge University and the University of London, and a PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science.