It's the same disaster that's taking down so many of our institutions as well here in the U.S. City and state pensions going broke because the politicos saw fit to set up systems whereby government workers (teachers, police and fire, city admin, etc.) could work for 30 years (in some cases 25 years), retire at 48 - 52 and then live to be 80-85. In Cincinnati we have people who worked for the city and then, by careful manipulation of their overtime, sick pay and vacation time for the last three years of work, manage to retire at 100+ % of their working income with COL adjustments and medical coverage for life. Defined benefit programs are quickly becoming dinosaurs in companies since businesses, such as automotive, realized that they could not sustain a viable business model with a workforce which would be retired for the same length of time as it was employed. It's time the government rid themselves of them also. I worked my whole life and am 100% dependent on my 401K and a soon to be bankrupt Social Security system for my retirement. Fortunately, I've had a few good investment hits that let me do it. Otherwise, I suppose I'd have to work until I dropped dead some day.