Despite what you might read in the naïve mainstream press,401(k) retirement investors continue to thrive. Every day, moreAmerican workers are becoming 401(k) millionaires. And these aren'tlimited to those in the executive suite. No, the entire middleclass fall into this category of 401(k) millionaires. In fact, inthe vast expanse of this great country of ours, there's only oneclass of citizens not allowed to partake in the 401(k) millionaireopportunity—public employee workers.

Private companies—for their own good and, as it turns out, forthe best interests of their employees—shifted from the definedbenefit paradigm to the defined contribution archetype decades ago.Unfortunately for public workers, municipal governments continue tolive in the 1930s. They've shackled their employees with pensionplan promises, and only now are we seeing the false credibility ofthose assurances.

Just ask the public employees of Detroit, Stockton, and,possibly coming soon to New York City, Los Angeles and the entirestate of Illinois.

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Christopher Carosa

Chris Carosa has been writing a weekly article and monthly column for BenefitsPRO online and BenefitsPRO Magazine since 2011 and is a nationally recognized award-winning writer, researcher and speaker. He’s written seven books, including From Cradle to Retire: The Child IRA; Hey! What’s My Number? – How to Increase the Odds You Will Retire in Comfort; A Pizza The Action: Everything I Ever Learned About Business I Learned By Working in a Pizza Stand at the Erie County Fair; and the widely acclaimed 401(k) Fiduciary Solutions. Carosa is also Chief Contributing Editor of the authoritative trade journal FiduciaryNews.com and publisher of the Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, a weekly community newspaper he founded in 1989. Currently serving as President of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and with more than 1,000 articles published in various publications, he appears regularly in the national media. A “parallel” entrepreneur, he actively runs a handful of businesses, including a small boutique investment adviser, providing hands-on experience for his writing. A trained astrophysicist, he also holds an MBA and has been designated a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor. Share your thoughts and story ideas with him through Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/christophercarosa/)and Twitter (https://twitter.com/ChrisCarosa).