Back in the old days, your employer would pick up your pension tab. From auto industry assembly line plants to corporate offices filled with row-upon-row of white-collar workers, most anyone earning a paycheck was part of what was called a defined benefit pension plan.  That meant the employer, not the worker, paid for and managed the funds that would one day show up in a monthly pension check.

That changed in the late ‘70s and early '80s when the 401(k) came onto the employee benefits scene. The responsibility--and the risk--of saving for retirement were shifted to the worker. On the surface, it was not a terrible idea to give the individual a hand in preparing for retirement. But while fund managers and employers pushed 401(k) plans as a sure way to build million-dollar retirements nest eggs, they didn't always offer much information about the risks of investing. And today, millions of 401(k) plan participants are seeing a creeping erosion of their account balances as the stock market plunges.

In a recent column, commentator Marie Cocco points out the over-the-top gushing that was used to sell 40l(k)s as get-rich-quick schemes: