I've heard a similar history about the 401(k) program, with it being twisted into its current form.

The thing that really irks me about the whole thing is that it's done nothing but lower the overall compensation for employees.

Before, the company paid wages and funded a pension, which the employee could count as future wages.

Now, the company pays only wages (with maybe a 401(k) match program), and now the employee has to pull from their own wages to fund their retirement.

It's a stealth tax that's been implemented over decades. Similar to the frog being slowly boiled and not realizing it, workers have been receiving lower and lower wages/benefits without realizing the reduced amount of their paychecks.

This isn't really ignorance on their part, but rather a concerted effort to skimp on compensation and burying it in pages upon pages of HR and financial jargon.

Employees are then left wondering why, after lower compensation and increasing inflation, their paycheck doesn't go as far as last year.