Here's my complaint with pensions.
You retire and start collecting at 60, die at 63, and unless you chose a plan with some percentage of spousal benefit, your family loses all the money you put into the plan. Worse if your spouse passes away soon after you.
However, with a 401k, all the money accumulated (your input, company match, interest) gets passed on to your heirs upon your death.
Based on my parents' and in-laws' information, part of their paycheck gets removed and placed into the pension fund, just like a 401k. Is this true? Then why wouldn't a person want the flexibility of a 401k? Purely due to the inability to handle a large chunk of money at once?