I don't usually discuss finances with my coworkers, but I just had a weird conversation with one of them. We're contractors, and about 1.5 years ago our contract was taken over by a different company. Today a coworker asked me if I'd had a 401k with the previous company, and if so what I'd done with the money when the contract switched.
This guy is about 20 years older then me. He's definitely held way more professional jobs. But he apparently left that balance sitting there for 1.5 years without thinking about what to do with it. Our 401k options at the first company were horrible. He's probably lost a fuckton of money in fees. Plus he admitted he has another 401k lurking somewhere he's done nothing with.
Okay, whatever, a lot of Americans don't roll over their 401ks. Except during our conversation he said "I hope I didn't miss the window to get that money." Which implies that he actually thought there was a possibility that whatever money he contributed would disappear if he didn't do something about it, and then left it there anyway.
He also apparently never set up a 401k with our current company, because he "needed the money."
I hope he's got a trust fund or something waiting in the wings, because otherwise I fear for his ability to ever retire.