In Chile, a private-sector pension scheme, funded by mandatory contributions, now channels a tenth of most workers' pay into the fund of their choosing.

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They hope their Asian operations will receive a boost after next year, when Hong Kong establishes a new system of mandatory contributions akin to the Chilean model.

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They raise mandatory contributions from their members, then spend them on political causes that some members dislike: one in three union members votes Republican, yet 95% of unions' political donations go to Democrats.

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American fund managers are also doing well in other Latin American countries, which have either adopted the Chilean approach (eg, Mexico and Bolivia), or gone down a similar route while avoiding mandatory contributions (eg, Argentina and Brazil).

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Another name that frequently surfaces in the 401(k) plot discussions is longtime retirement activist Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor of economics at The New School, who believes the 401(k) should lose all its tax advantages, and instead be replaced by something she calls Guaranteed Retirement Accounts, a system of mandatory retirement contributions by both employees and their employers, that would allow for a minimum, promised investment return.

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