False assumptions behind Defined-Contribution Pensions

While the traditional employment-related pension (for ordinary mortals except molly-coddled public sector employees) is on the way to extinction, the solution dreamt up by the retirement industry (with the connivance of politicians) offers a very poor substitute. To expect people to successfully manage their retirement nest-eggs in the shark-infested waters of the global investment markets would be the same as expecting someone to perform brain surgery on himself. A lot of investment activity is structured on the premise of a zero-sum game where someone's winnings are dependent on the fact that someone else is losing. Most active investment management - and certainly the whole universe of derivative dealing and alternative asset management - is nothing else but a redistribution of wealth. In addition, the running of the casino is extremely costly and puts a serious drain on investment returns.