So, I just watched the episode on retirement, and it's .....eh, I hate to say it, but it's terrible. The episode quickly devolved into a waaah-fest of "I can't save" and "we were sold a dream" and "high earners don't pay enough into SS" and "we'll never be able to retire." It goes out of its way to wage class warfare against high-earners on the point of SS tax caps, but then ignores Social Security to make the point that because most people can't save up $1MM by retirement, they'll be destitute. It states (falsely!) that eliminating the salary cap for SS would "solve poverty, and expand benefits."
I was hoping it'd explain (without all the social commentary) about savings rates, types of retirement savings (taxable, IRA/Roth/401k, SS), the 4% rule, and maybe how retirees expenses differ from people who are still in the workforce. Something suitable for showing teens or young adults who haven't heard all this stuff yet. Instead, all I got was 20 minutes of "here's a retirement thing! But it won't help you because of X."
--"Here's what a pension is!" "But nobody gets them nowadays." (then why even bring it up?)
--"Here's what a 401k is!" "But lots of people can't afford to save." (you almost certainly can)
--"Here's what Social Security is!" "But it won't be enough to support you." (it never was meant to, hence why it's called "supplemental")
--"You can save for retirement!" "But you have to deprive your present self in order to do so." (um, duh, life is about choices and tradeoffs)
--"Ok, well maybe you *can* invest!" "But people have lost money in the stock market!" (then don't sell when the market is down, silly!)