US retirement system 'built for the rich': professor

WASHINGTON -- The American retirement system is built for the rich, Daniel Hemel, professor at the University of Chicago Law School, has recently written.

Hemel, in an article published by The Washington Post, noted that U.S. lawmakers passed legislation late last month "ensuring that high-income individuals can stuff even more money into their tax-advantaged retirement accounts."

"The era of tax-incentivized saving for retirement is nearly half a century old, and for all that time, Congress has showered high-income savers with generous benefits while paying lip service to the working class," Hemel, also visiting professor at New York University School of Law, pointed out.

"The old adage says you can't fool all of the people all of the time," he said, adding that the bipartisan retirement "reform" puts that to the test.