The World of Pension Assets

First, for those who might be puzzled; British style numbering: their billion is our trillion.
Defined contribution is what we generally refer to as a 401K plan

Defined benefit plans typically provide a better retirement income than 401K’s. There is little point in going over the reasons why they have been in serious decline in the US – and starting to be under pressure elsewhere.
I will offer this excerpt in how pension are handled in civilized societies:

As in many other European countries, the Dutch pension system consists of three
pillars: the state pension (AOW), the supplementary collective pensions and the
private individual pension products that each person can arrange for him-/herself.
Together these three pillars determine the amount of pension that a person will
receive when he/she retires at the end of his/her working life. Risk sharing,
efficiency and collective schemes are key characteristics of the 2nd pillar system.
The Dutch state pension (AOW) benefit that is paid to people aged 65 and older is
funded by contributions that are paid by people younger than 65 (the so called
pay-as-you-go system). Pension rights are accrued during working life.

It’s the second pillar that is makes a world of difference:

The second pillar consists of the collective pension schemes. These pension
schemes are administered by a pension fund or by an insurance company. Under
Dutch law, company and pension fund are strictly separated. Pension funds are
legally and financially independent from the companies. Most pension money in
the Netherlands is managed by pension funds.
The second pillar is financed by capital funding. This means that the pensions are
fi nanced from the contributions members of the scheme paid in the past and from
the return on the investment of these contributions.
In the Netherlands there are three different types of pension funds:
Industry-wide pension funds (for a whole sector, such as the civil service,
construction industry, hotel and catering industry or the retail sector),
Corporate pension funds (for a single company or a corporation),
Pension funds for independent professionals such as medical specialists
and dentists.
Pension funds are non-profit organisations. Operating as foundations they are
independent legal entities and do not form part of a company. The pension funds
will therefore not be directly affected if a company gets into financial difficulties.

Net result is that in countries like the Netherlands, financially, retirement is reasonably comfortable for just about everyone.