Saving for retirement

More than half of U.S. workers have no retirement plan at all. And even those who do have a 401(k) typically don't have enough money to retire comfortably

After years, if not decades, of reports that U.S. employees don’t save enough for retirement, along comes a new study that appears to show that the minds of American workers have changed: They are now ready to save for retirement and willing to sacrifice to do so — or at least half of them are.

When American Airlines went into bankruptcy in November, our phones started ringing. I'm with the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. We insure private pensions, and American told its 130,000 employees that they would lose theirs. They called us to ask what would happen: What would they get when they retire?

In many ways, things are looking up for America’s economy. After several years of roller-coaster-ish volatility, the Dow Jones industrial average has climbed to its highest level since the 2008 financial crisis. Economic growth, though not robust, has been gathering steam, and the unemployment rate has been inching downward, although fitfully.