Saving the Fairies of Retirement Security.

By Mortimer B. Zuckerman Thu May 26, 5:31 PM ET

Once upon a time, America' s workers were protected by three good fairies. "If you work all your life to build a new America and save when you can," the fairies promised, "we three will make your dreams of a secure and happy retirement come true." One of the fairies guarded personal savings against the ogres of inflation, another kept an eye on the gremlins in employers' pension plans, and the third--the grandest fairy of them all--had a cave full of gold coins piled up by all the workers in a magical scheme called Social Security

Today, the fairies' promises are unraveling before our eyes. Personal savings rates are plunging. Company pension plans are in free fall. And the good fairy guarding all that gold? Well, she's being advised by no less than the president of the United States to start betting it on the stock market--despite the fact that the average stock market fund eked out just a 1 percent gain in the past five years, while investors who poured money into the 50 hottest funds over the same period are down an average of 42 percent. Think the good fairy can beat that?