My collection of thoughts.
1. The Hiltonsmith dude whining about having to save 10-15 percent for years was kind of a "well, yes" moment. In general the piece seemed to ignore that the first component to a successful retirement is you must, actually, save.
2. I couldn't believe JP & Pru couldn't find better spokesmen. I mean, come on. I am sure the edits weren't kind, but you need to make the case that active management has the potential to beat the market and earn their fee. Also, discuss the compliance costs a bit, ERISA isn't easy.
3. The lead reporter, Martin, should have shown his retirement numbers. His test cases did, it would not have hurt to show some one who is in a high income, high expense world show their set of challenges.
4. Never been a Jack Bogle guy, even though I invest his way, just never seen him talk. Pretty impressive.
5. I think all the bits about "the stock market" can go down were overblown. I mean even the market of the 1990s had 1987 in recent memory. Was that not the moment to introduce asset allocation concepts?
6. I think they very quickly glossed over the key benefit of DC over DB, which is that it *much* better matches the current environment where job tenures are far short of lifetime employment. While it shifts the risk to the individuals, it also frees the individuals to make more choices.
7. On the whole, I liked it, but it needed to be a two part series to cover what to do in today's world. I would have liked to see a CFP go over each of the example people and give a plan and prognosis.