How quickly the tide turns. Just a few short months ago, the mass media hype targeted the 401(k) arena. Things were going so bad in the PR department for the popular retirement plan, some even accused the 401(k) of being nothing more than a supersized Ponzi scheme. As unbelievable as it sounds, voices declared the 401(k) "Dead on Arrival" and began demanding the return of the pension plan.

But then the Wisconsin winter struck, breaking a dam of pent-up frustration and taxpayer angst. First the Cheese State, then Indiana, then Ohio and now Massachusetts, still a bastion of Democrats, all these states (and many others) shed the bloom of the Emperor's new clothes when it comes to public employee unions. In the end, the 401(k) was alive and well – and working! It was the long ignored pension that appears to have been assigned to the dustbin of history.

This brings us to Washington's infamous third rail – Social Security. As early as the 1980s, when a bipartisan panel swept the dirt under the rug and "saved" FDR's safety net, many already knew Social Security was the real Ponzi scheme. All it would take was the retirement of the baby boomers for the thing to meet its ultimate fate. Back then, we had a chance to save the retirements of the mid-to-late baby boomers by having them opt out of Social Security and into a defined contribution plan. But the third rail loomed large, threatening to sizzle anyone who ventured too close.