Reality checks: A comparative analysis of future benefits from private-sector, voluntary-enrollment 401(k) plans vs. stylized, final-average-pay defined benefit and cash balance plans.

 A rapidly growing public policy concern facing the United States is whether future generations of retired Americans, particularly those in the Baby Boomer and Gen X cohorts, will have adequate retirement incomes. There have been several policy studies in recent years that suggest that the decreasing relevance of defined benefit (DB) plans relative to defined contribution plans (such as 401(k)s) since the 1980s will have a negative impact on the percentage of future retirees who will achieve a specified level of retirement income adequacy.