I used to be a strong believer in regular funding of my retirement account, but now I'm less likely to do so. The finances for the USA are in horrific shape, and it is not beyond the pale to believe that an individual's "personal" retirement funds will be confiscated by the government at some point in the future. There have actually been discussions in congress about this already. The feeling is that we were "allowed" to accumulate these funds tax free and so some percentage of them can be considered as government property. Most people should plan on working as long as they can as I believe retirement will very soon be a thing of the past. If you look at the history of the world, mass retirement is a fairly recent phenomenon (1950s) and one that is probably unattainable for the majority of people born in 1960 or later.