The Empty 401(k)

If White House press secretary Tony Snow won't save for retirement, why should you?

By Daniel Gross
Posted Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007, at 5:41 PM ET

From the time he joined the Bush administration in May 2006 until he delivered his final briefing last week, White House press secretary Tony Snow had the unenviable job of defending an increasingly unpopular administration to a press corps intent on making up for its earlier fawning treatment. Snow has also been a chief spokesman for the Bush administration's domestic agenda, forced to argue continually that the typical American is doing just fine, and bravely pushing the unpopular elements of Bush's vaunted "ownership society": privatizing Social Security, eliminating defined-benefit pensions in favor of 401(k)s; and replacing insurance with health savings accounts, high-deductible policies, and other consumer-driven health-care initiatives.

And yet Snow's own life in many ways symbolizes the downside of the ownership society—and suggests how much a government role in health and retirement benefits is necessary.