There are always circumstances where people fail to adequately save for retirement - often no fault of the people. Here in NZ we were the first country to provide a pension for people because there were a lot of guys who came here for the gold rush, didn't strike it rich and had no family to care for them. We still provide a basic state pension to anyone who wants it but if you want a comfortable retirement you need to save as well. The sight of old people in poverty is not pretty.