The Wall Street Journal recently ignited an online forest fire when some of the early champions of the 401(k) surprisingly disclosed a change of heart, seeing that the retirement investment accounts haven’t lived up to their expectations.

Why the lament? Herbert Whitehouse, a former Johnson & Johnson human-resources executive, and one of the first in the U.S. to urge workers to use a 401(k), now says he intended the retirement investment accounts to supplement, not replace, company pensions. Ted Benna, a retired benefits consultant and a so-called father of the 401(k), frets that the accounts provide savers too many opportunities to make deadly investment mistakes. Other pioneers say that because the market has changed, early, low calculations of how much saving would be necessary to retire comfortably have proved unrealistic.

Read the article here.