National News

Lanny Martinson was a 23-year-old Marine sergeant in Vietnam when he last saw his dog tags. In the 45 years since, he thought they were gone forever, lost in the mad rush to save his life and to help the men he was with when they walked into a minefield.

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Energy production, military realignment, Hispanic immigration, student enrollment and changing retirement patterns are among the forces driving population gains in America's fastest-growing counties.

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A federal ruling against a major movie studio's use of unpaid interns could have a wide impact on uncompensated labor, including internships for college credit. Workers' advocates say many interns are preventing workers who can't afford to work free from entering the labor force.

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Members of the House Judiciary Committee grilled FBI Director Robert Mueller about the electronic surveillance of Americans. These are four highlights.

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Unmanned drones aren't just a tool for governments anymore. By as early as this year, the Federal Aviation Administration expects to propose regulations opening up the use of small, unmanned airborne vehicles, or drones, for commercial use. Until then, anyone trying to make money with them is breaking FAA rules.

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Six months after the school shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Connecticut is one of a handful of states that have passed tough new gun laws. Firearms manufacturers in at least two of those states are planning to move their operations elsewhere.

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Pope Francis has surprised many with his candor in the early days of his papacy. In recent remarks, he reportedly acknowledged a so-called gay lobby in the Vatican. The pope's words are being interpreted as part of a broader effort to re-examine the way the Vatican is run.

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Whoever wins Iran's presidential election will face a major challenge: how to revive a struggling economy that is facing tough international sanctions. Iranians have been finding ways around the punitive measures for decades, but are they running out of options?

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The White House says sarin gas has killed up to 150 people in Syria, and that the use of chemical weapons crosses a "red line."

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Postwar marketing of convenience foods pushed our grandmothers to take many shortcuts in the kitchen that modern foodies might find unpalatable. Many involved Jell-O. Cookbook author Jeremy Jackson updated his grandma Mildred's famous strawberry cake recipe to remove this old-school secret ingredient.

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Postwar marketing of convenience foods pushed our grandmothers to take many shortcuts in the kitchen that modern foodies might find unpalatable. Many involved Jell-O. Cookbook author Jeremy Jackson updated his grandma Mildred's famous strawberry cake recipe to remove this old-school secret ingredient.

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The airline will likely have to shrink leg room on its planes in order to accommodate the additional seats.

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Investors like Gates are betting that our planet can't sustain the current rate of growth in animal-based foods for too much longer. Products like Beyond Eggs, a plant-based substitute, are designed to fill the void.

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Investors like Gates are betting that our planet can't sustain the current rate of growth in animal-based foods for too much longer. Products like Beyond Eggs, a plant-based substitute, are designed to fill the void.

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Opportunity cost is one of those terms that economists love to toss about the place. It sounds complicated, but opportunity cost is a really simple concept.

Ready? Here goes: opportunity cost is what you would have gotten if you’d done the other thing: the thing that you didn't do.

Take that famous conundrum: You come to a fork in the road, and decide to go left. The opportunity cost of that decision is what you would have gotten if you’d gone right.

For businesses, it’s all about money. Imagine a computer company named, say, Strawberry. Strawberry builds its business to the point where it has to make a decision: should it be a software company making applications, or should it be a hardware company and make computers?

Tough choice: it’s really good at building computers, and it makes good money at it. But there’s could be more money in software. 

Strawberry runs all the numbers and decides to become a software company. Why? Because it reckons it can build a more profitable business making software. Fair enough. But the opportunity cost of that decision is the money it would have made had it decided to keep building laptops.

Can we afford the consumer economy? Marketplace explores how we consume, what we get from it, what it costs, and whether we can keep it up.

Explore the special series, and play our 'Worth it or not?' game.

For consumers, it’s a little different, and the opportunity cost of a decision may not be financial at all. Imagine you’re at that fork in the road again. One road leads to the city -- the other road to a seaside town. If you decide to turn left and go to the city, the opportunity cost is what you would have gotten if you turned right: you missed out on all that great weather, sand between your toes, ice cream, oh, and a heck of a lot less stress.

It seems obvious, right? And almost way too simple. So why do people make such a big deal about opportunity cost? Because it’s an essential component of decision making.

Considering opportunity cost forces you to weigh the real stakes of your choices. And helps you make the best of your options.

Despite the daunting health challenges Haiti faces, the country has achieved a major step toward eliminating the parasitic infection, which causes severe swelling of the legs. Haiti is on track to wipe out the disease within four years, scientists say.

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Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender adults say they feel more accepted in society than they did 10 years ago, and they're overwhelmingly optimistic that the trend will continue. But a sweeping new Pew Center survey of the LGBT community also finds a persistent social stigma.

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Ted Benna -- also known as the father of the 401(k) -- is a decidedly un-Wall Street guy. He grew up on a Pennsylvania dairy farm.

"My dad did a great thing for me there," he tells Marketplace. "I had my own cow when I was seven years old, and we got paid a little money from that."

Hard work and thrift is Benna's answer to a world full of stuff to buy. He spent his career planning people's retirements. So I figure hey, I'll show him my 401(k) papers and get some free advice.

"It appears you get a dollar for dollar match," he asks. "Is that right?"

A bit of small talk yields quickly to a lecture. It turns out I'm drowning in fees.

Benna: "You're in investments that are more expensive."

Tong: "You talking about the fees?"

Benna: "That you don't see."

Benna has one main beef with the system -- it's too complicated.

"And you have 1, 2, 3, 4...."

In my case, 20 investment choices is too many. But wait, isn't this the guy who started the whole system in the first place?

"Hey, if I were starting over from scratch today with what we know, I'd blow up the existing structure and start over," he says. "What I'm talking about isn't 401 (k). I'm talking about the way investing is done."

 Can we afford the consumer economy? Marketplace explores how we consume, what we get from it, what it costs and whether we can keep it up. 

Explore the whole series here.

The backstory of the 401(k)

What's he mean? To understand, let's back up, to the accidental rise of the 401(k) -- to the 1960s and 70s. Back then, if you worked for a big company and retired, you got a pension. A regular check.

Benna helped run these plans. He was a consultant. And in the late '70s, he was unhappy.

"Most of what I was doing was working with business owners," he says. "Their main interest was, 'how can I get the biggest tax break, and give the least to my employees, legally?'"

Then, Benna says inspiration came from two different places: God (he's a religious man) and the Internal Revenue Code. It was 1978. Congress passed an obscure add-on to tax code section 401.

"Added this little paragraph 'k'. And I still have, you know, the original copy. It was only a page and a quarter long. That's all it was."

401(k) was an unassuming tax break for companies letting workers put away cash on the side. Only the tax nerds noticed... until divine inspiration hit Benna.

"Hmm. Well, how about adding a match, an additional incentive? Immediately, I jumped to, 'Wow, this is a big deal!'"

His concoction was effectively a bribe for workers: they got extra money from the boss and a tax break, if they took some of their own paycheck and set it aside for retirement.

"The biggest benefit of the 401(k) is it converts them from spenders to savers. It enables them to do something they wouldn't do on their own."

Benna had a hunch 401(k)s would take off. Indeed they did, in the early '80s.

The rise of the 401(k) and the fall of pensions

Big companies offered them first, and in the meantime started ditching pension plans, which were expensive. And before long, "401(k) became very popular for little companies to have, that never had any retirement program," Benna said.

Thus began the era of make-your-own-retirement. The American worker now faced a new choice: Spend my whole paycheck? Or take the employer match/bribe, and start saving? It made for some tension.

"Now you go home to your spouse. And she says, 'Are you nuts? I mean look, the end of the month. We got nothing left. I mean, how are you going to put six percent of your pay in?' But you say, 'Well look, my company is going to give me three percent! I'm crazy if I don't do this!'"

By the mid '90s, 30 million Americans had 401(k) plans. Do-it-yourself retirement seemed easy in the decade's bull market.

Median 401(k)/IRA balances, by age group. (Source: Center for Retirement Research, Boston College)

We know what came next, in 2000: the dotcom bubble burst. Then, in the financial crisis, the average 401(k) plan tracked by Fidelity Investments lost 27 percent.

 "Unfortunately, the worst thing that happened with this wretched market is too many had the highest stock ownership that they ever had at the wrong time," Benna says.

Today, the typical middle-class household nearing retirement has saved $120,000 -- one-tenth what many say it needs. 

Bull markets: Dow Jones Industrial Average (Source: Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco)

And for all the 401(k) growth, half of American workers still have no plan.

There's the top...and the bottom 

Has the system failed us? I asked Ted Benna that. He's thought a lot about it. It's almost like his creation got overtaken by events. He never meant for the explosion in confusing investment choices. The original plans offered two.

"We didn't need to talk about large-cap, small-cap, value, growth, emerging-markets, on and on and on," Benna says. Back then, "the employer picked a mutual fund. And it was typically Fidelity Magellan or Windsor Fund at Vanguard."

It was never Benna's idea for do-it-yourself to replace pensions. It just kind of happened.

But today?

Benna: "This is kinda the whole enchilada."

Tong: "So what's your thought on it now having become the whole enchilada?"

Benna: "Well, it's not good, but it's reality.

Benna says the 401(k) was never meant to take care of everyone. It was simply a financial product that took off. And it did help middle-income Americans, tens of millions of them.

"What makes the U.S. different [now]," he says, "and has historically, is a strong middle class. Doesn't matter what your society is. You're always going to have your top. And you're going to have plenty on the bottom, unfortunately. The key is, what is going to be in the middle and what financial condition are they going to be in?"

And if the 401(k) has done anything, creator Ted Benna argues it's forced thrift into household economics.

Ted Benna -- also known as the father of the 401(k) -- is a decidedly un-Wall Street guy. He grew up on a Pennsylvania dairy farm.

"My dad did a great thing for me there," he tells Marketplace. "I had my own cow when I was seven years old, and we got paid a little money from that."

Hard work and thrift is Benna's answer to a world full of stuff to buy. He spent his career planning people's retirements. So I figure hey, I'll show him my 401(k) papers and get some free advice.

"It appears you get a dollar for dollar match," he asks. "Is that right?"

A bit of small talk yields quickly to a lecture. It turns out I'm drowning in fees.

Benna: "You're in investments that are more expensive."

Tong: "You talking about the fees?"

Benna: "That you don't see."

Benna has one main beef with the system -- it's too complicated.

"And you have 1, 2, 3, 4...."

In my case, 20 investment choices is too many. But wait, isn't this the guy who started the whole system in the first place?

"Hey, if I were starting over from scratch today with what we know, I'd blow up the existing structure and start over," he says. "What I'm talking about isn't 401 (k). I'm talking about the way investing is done."

 Can we afford the consumer economy? Marketplace explores how we consume, what we get from it, what it costs and whether we can keep it up. 

Explore the whole series here.

The backstory of the 401(k)

What's he mean? To understand, let's back up, to the accidental rise of the 401(k) -- to the 1960s and 70s. Back then, if you worked for a big company and retired, you got a pension. A regular check.

Benna helped run these plans. He was a consultant. And in the late '70s, he was unhappy.

"Most of what I was doing was working with business owners," he says. "Their main interest was, 'how can I get the biggest tax break, and give the least to my employees, legally?'"

Then, Benna says inspiration came from two different places: God (he's a religious man) and the Internal Revenue Code. It was 1978. Congress passed an obscure add-on to tax code section 401.

"Added this little paragraph 'k'. And I still have, you know, the original copy. It was only a page and a quarter long. That's all it was."

401(k) was an unassuming tax break for companies letting workers put away cash on the side. Only the tax nerds noticed... until divine inspiration hit Benna.

"Hmm. Well, how about adding a match, an additional incentive? Immediately, I jumped to, 'Wow, this is a big deal!'"

His concoction was effectively a bribe for workers: they got extra money from the boss and a tax break, if they took some of their own paycheck and set it aside for retirement.

"The biggest benefit of the 401(k) is it converts them from spenders to savers. It enables them to do something they wouldn't do on their own."

Benna had a hunch 401(k)s would take off. Indeed they did, in the early '80s.

The rise of the 401(k) and the fall of pensions

Big companies offered them first, and in the meantime started ditching pension plans, which were expensive. And before long, "401(k) became very popular for little companies to have, that never had any retirement program," Benna said.

Thus began the era of make-your-own-retirement. The American worker now faced a new choice: Spend my whole paycheck? Or take the employer match/bribe, and start saving? It made for some tension.

"Now you go home to your spouse. And she says, 'Are you nuts? I mean look, the end of the month. We got nothing left. I mean, how are you going to put six percent of your pay in?' But you say, 'Well look, my company is going to give me three percent! I'm crazy if I don't do this!'"

By the mid '90s, 30 million Americans had 401(k) plans. Do-it-yourself retirement seemed easy in the decade's bull market.

Median 401(k)/IRA balances, by age group. (Source: Center for Retirement Research, Boston College)

We know what came next, in 2000: the dotcom bubble burst. Then, in the financial crisis, the average 401(k) plan tracked by Fidelity Investments lost 27 percent.

 "Unfortunately, the worst thing that happened with this wretched market is too many had the highest stock ownership that they ever had at the wrong time," Benna says.

Today, the typical middle-class household nearing retirement has saved $120,000 -- one-tenth what many say it needs. 

Bull markets: Dow Jones Industrial Average (Source: Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco)

And for all the 401(k) growth, half of American workers still have no plan.

There's the top...and the bottom 

Has the system failed us? I asked Ted Benna that. He's thought a lot about it. It's almost like his creation got overtaken by events. He never meant for the explosion in confusing investment choices. The original plans offered two.

"We didn't need to talk about large-cap, small-cap, value, growth, emerging-markets, on and on and on," Benna says. Back then, "the employer picked a mutual fund. And it was typically Fidelity Magellan or Windsor Fund at Vanguard."

It was never Benna's idea for do-it-yourself to replace pensions. It just kind of happened.

But today?

Benna: "This is kinda the whole enchilada."

Tong: "So what's your thought on it now having become the whole enchilada?"

Benna: "Well, it's not good, but it's reality.

Benna says the 401(k) was never meant to take care of everyone. It was simply a financial product that took off. And it did help middle-income Americans, tens of millions of them.

"What makes the U.S. different [now]," he says, "and has historically, is a strong middle class. Doesn't matter what your society is. You're always going to have your top. And you're going to have plenty on the bottom, unfortunately. The key is, what is going to be in the middle and what financial condition are they going to be in?"

And if the 401(k) has done anything, creator Ted Benna argues it's forced thrift into household economics.

Ted Benna -- also known as the father of the 401(k) -- is a decidedly un-Wall Street guy. He grew up on a Pennsylvania dairy farm.

"My dad did a great thing for me there," he tells Marketplace. "I had my own cow when I was seven years old, and we got paid a little money from that."

Hard work and thrift is Benna's answer to a world full of stuff to buy. He spent his career planning people's retirements. So I figure hey, I'll show him my 401(k) papers and get some free advice.

"It appears you get a dollar for dollar match," he asks. "Is that right?"

A bit of small talk yields quickly to a lecture. It turns out I'm drowning in fees.

Benna: "You're in investments that are more expensive."

Tong: "You talking about the fees?"

Benna: "That you don't see."

Benna has one main beef with the system -- it's too complicated.

"And you have 1, 2, 3, 4...."

In my case, 20 investment choices is too many. But wait, isn't this the guy who started the whole system in the first place?

"Hey, if I were starting over from scratch today with what we know, I'd blow up the existing structure and start over," he says. "What I'm talking about isn't 401 (k). I'm talking about the way investing is done."

 Can we afford the consumer economy? Marketplace explores how we consume, what we get from it, what it costs and whether we can keep it up. 

Explore the whole series here.

The backstory of the 401(k)

What's he mean? To understand, let's back up, to the accidental rise of the 401(k) -- to the 1960s and 70s. Back then, if you worked for a big company and retired, you got a pension. A regular check.

Benna helped run these plans. He was a consultant. And in the late '70s, he was unhappy.

"Most of what I was doing was working with business owners," he says. "Their main interest was, 'how can I get the biggest tax break, and give the least to my employees, legally?'"

Then, Benna says inspiration came from two different places: God (he's a religious man) and the Internal Revenue Code. It was 1978. Congress passed an obscure add-on to tax code section 401.

"Added this little paragraph 'k'. And I still have, you know, the original copy. It was only a page and a quarter long. That's all it was."

401(k) was an unassuming tax break for companies letting workers put away cash on the side. Only the tax nerds noticed... until divine inspiration hit Benna.

"Hmm. Well, how about adding a match, an additional incentive? Immediately, I jumped to, 'Wow, this is a big deal!'"

His concoction was effectively a bribe for workers: they got extra money from the boss and a tax break, if they took some of their own paycheck and set it aside for retirement.

"The biggest benefit of the 401(k) is it converts them from spenders to savers. It enables them to do something they wouldn't do on their own."

Benna had a hunch 401(k)s would take off. Indeed they did, in the early '80s.

The rise of the 401(k) and the fall of pensions

Big companies offered them first, and in the meantime started ditching pension plans, which were expensive. And before long, "401(k) became very popular for little companies to have, that never had any retirement program," Benna said.

Thus began the era of make-your-own-retirement. The American worker now faced a new choice: Spend my whole paycheck? Or take the employer match/bribe, and start saving? It made for some tension.

"Now you go home to your spouse. And she says, 'Are you nuts? I mean look, the end of the month. We got nothing left. I mean, how are you going to put six percent of your pay in?' But you say, 'Well look, my company is going to give me three percent! I'm crazy if I don't do this!'"

By the mid '90s, 30 million Americans had 401(k) plans. Do-it-yourself retirement seemed easy in the decade's bull market.

Median 401(k)/IRA balances, by age group. (Source: Center for Retirement Research, Boston College)

We know what came next, in 2000: the dotcom bubble burst. Then, in the financial crisis, the average 401(k) plan tracked by Fidelity Investments lost 27 percent.

 "Unfortunately, the worst thing that happened with this wretched market is too many had the highest stock ownership that they ever had at the wrong time," Benna says.

Today, the typical middle-class household nearing retirement has saved $120,000 -- one-tenth what many say it needs. 

Bull markets: Dow Jones Industrial Average (Source: Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco)

And for all the 401(k) growth, half of American workers still have no plan.

There's the top...and the bottom 

Has the system failed us? I asked Ted Benna that. He's thought a lot about it. It's almost like his creation got overtaken by events. He never meant for the explosion in confusing investment choices. The original plans offered two.

"We didn't need to talk about large-cap, small-cap, value, growth, emerging-markets, on and on and on," Benna says. Back then, "the employer picked a mutual fund. And it was typically Fidelity Magellan or Windsor Fund at Vanguard."

It was never Benna's idea for do-it-yourself to replace pensions. It just kind of happened.

But today?

Benna: "This is kinda the whole enchilada."

Tong: "So what's your thought on it now having become the whole enchilada?"

Benna: "Well, it's not good, but it's reality.

Benna says the 401(k) was never meant to take care of everyone. It was simply a financial product that took off. And it did help middle-income Americans, tens of millions of them.

"What makes the U.S. different [now]," he says, "and has historically, is a strong middle class. Doesn't matter what your society is. You're always going to have your top. And you're going to have plenty on the bottom, unfortunately. The key is, what is going to be in the middle and what financial condition are they going to be in?"

And if the 401(k) has done anything, creator Ted Benna argues it's forced thrift into household economics.