"Despite its success, the private retirement system has in recent years been subject to the criticism that it is not sufficiently accessible to low wage workers, which has resulted in numerous proposals that would establish government-sponsored retirement savings arrangements for private-sector workers.... Each of these initiatives has the potential to reduce support for and diminish the private retirement plan system. Moreover, they all contain features that raise concerns regarding the protection of retirement savings. Perhaps most insidious, they represent the possible Balkanization of fiduciary standards with each parallel system having its own special exceptions from the core duties of prudence and loyalty that are the essence of ERISA."  MORE >>