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Center for Economic and Policy Research
https://cepr.net/big-victory-on-retirement-income-in-omnibus-spending-bill/
It sounds similar to the Swiss system. They realized at a certain point that the state pension was insufficient and instituted the Second Pillar. It's basically a 401k with a required match by the employer.
https://www.ch.ch/en/retirement/old-age-pension/the-2nd-pillar/
It's pretty substantial. I cashed out after about 1.5 years at half time in an eligible position as a research assistant at the university (i.e. near poverty wages) and want to say it was about $6000 that I got, which was enough with other savings to buy my first brand new car (and one of only two brand new cars I have ever purchased).
I've often thought the US should have some version of a Second Pillar.
They also made 529 savings accounts so they are able to be converted into IRAs if all the funds are not used on education. I intend to do max contribution every year for my daughter. Of course, they could somehow later do some sort of means testing or changing it back to not allow that.
Here are the top 10 most expensive states to retire in, according to WalletHub:
New York
New Jersey
Vermont
Massachusetts
Maryland
Washington
Connecticut
Maine
Illinois
Oregon
That list really surprises me. As someone who is from VT but lives in CA, we have sometimes thought of retiring to VT because of the lower cost.
Covid moved that a bit for "urban" Vermont. It got ridiculously expensive to buy a house, though still not to CA levels. Last I looked, rural Vermont was still a bargain compared to anywhere in CA where you might actually want to live. Homeowner's insurance is a lot less. Property tax tends to be a higher percentage of home value, but home values tend to be lower. Utilities are much much cheaper. Groceries are about the same.
So I can't figure how VT ends up on the list and CA does not.
>VT
Well, they don't actually give any metrics.
"Vermont ranks No. 2 on WalletHub's health care metrics, but there are only two states ranked below it for affordability. It's no wonder it has the largest senior workforce in the country — gotta pay the bills somehow."
https://www.moneytalksnews.com/slideshows/the-most-expensive-states-for-retirees/
MN comes in at #11, which surprised me too.