watch nowMore than three-quarters of Americans, 77%, say the unavailability of pensions is making it harder to achieve the American Dream, according to a new report from the National Institute on Retirement Security. With the shift from pensions to 401(k)s, the responsibility for saving for retirement has transferred from employers to workers. "When not managed properly, defined benefit plans can end up like Ponzi schemes," Greszler said at Wednesday's Senate hearing. Neither Social Security nor multiemployer pensions can pay benefits as promised, she noted. To shore up Social Security, the average American household would have to pay at least $3,000 per year more in taxes, money that would better be invested in personal accounts, Greszler argued.

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Persons: Rebecca Cook, Sara Schambers, Schambers, Teresa Ghilarducci, Ghilarducci, Rachel Greszler, Greszler, Sen, Bill Cassidy Organizations: United Auto Workers, Sterling Heights Assembly, Reuters, Ford, Washington , D.C, UAW, National Institute on Retirement Security, Pensions, Finance, Security, Workers, The New School for Social Research, The Heritage Foundation, Senate, Social Security Locations: Sterling Heights, Sterling Heights , Michigan, Washington ,, New