In 2008 when Argentina's output briefly shrank, the government balanced its books by nationalising private pensions.
Similarly, private pensions pay premiums to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which protects private pension beneficiaries.
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By this measure, Sweden is less equal than Britain, since fewer Swedes have private pensions.
Either they mistrust private pensions, following the mis-selling of such investments in the late 1980s.
This is because private pensions are funded by government rebates related to people's earnings.
The government is thought to want to encourage cheaper private pensions and higher savings through tax incentives.
Since then, his labour minister has proposed bold plans to nudge more Germans into taking out private pensions.
It is already having to clear up the mess left by the mis-selling of private pensions in the 1980s.
From its beginning, Americans have supplemented Social Security with private pensions and savings.
Suddenly private pensions look a lot less secure than those much-maligned state pensions.
And A-Day, 6th April next year, when a lot of the rules on investing in private pensions will be relaxed.
BBC: NEWS | Programmes | Working Lunch | Pensions: Past, present and future
Federal laws clearly prohibit military retirees from assigning their pensions and appear to prohibit the assignment of private pensions, too.
These reforms are intended to encourage private pensions (by offering public subsidies and tax exemptions) to supplement the state's pay-as-you-go scheme.
In reply pensioners groups point out that their savings and their private pensions have dwindled in the era of low interest rates.
Many private pensions have been badly affected by economic turbulence, annuities have been cut, and savings are earning pitiful amounts of interest.
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Stephen Timms, the new pensions minister, recognises the importance of private pensions, and promises to look carefully at criticisms of the stakeholder proposals.
More than a dozen other states exempt some annual dollar amount of seniors' income--from private pensions, IRAs and sometimes other nonwage sources (see table).
But Mr Brown's raid and a recent change in British tax policy on private pensions aimed at high earners indicate the complexities of the subject.
In the meantime, it suggests the government should consider taking national insurance from earnings after state pension age and ending tax-free lump sums on private pensions.
Most people would like more than that, so many save money for their own private pensions, which they're allowed to take from the age of 50.
BBC: NEWS | Programmes | Working Lunch | Pensions: Past, present and future
Moving on to small private pensions, you may be able to take relatively small pension savings wholly in cash under an arrangement known as "trivial commutation".
At the national level, maintaining a class of retirees (whether via Social Security or private pensions) means redistributing existing output, not putting money under your mattress.
State and private pensions should encourage workers to postpone retirement.
Private pensions are different, but some economists think a smaller working population will tend to depress the value of financial assets and that will in turn affect pensions.
The FSA has said its motivation for introducing the changes is to stop policies - such as private pensions and investments - being mis-sold by sales staff on commission.
Caroline Flint, Labour's shadow energy secretary, said that the plans failed to address issues such as excessive charges on private pensions, and costs affecting consumers such as high rail fares.
On average, today's pensioners are around 50% better off than their counterparts in 1979, and fewer pensioners are poor, because increasing numbers receive income from private pensions and other investments.
If Labour wins the the election, as expected, it would be wise to shed its aversion to private pensions and take up the Tories' ideas, whatever it says about them now.
Only about 30% of all Social Security beneficiaries receive private pensions, and various surveys indicate that about one-quarter of the retired depend on Social Security checks for 90% of their income.
The Tories were so eager to persuade people to buy private pensions rather than relying on the state that they failed to ensure that the pension providers properly informed their customers about their products hence massive mis-selling.
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