MSNBC has a nice article — with a real focus on St. Louis, no less — about the very generous retirement program offered to McDonald’s employees. It’s not exactly efficiency wages, but it certainly turns the spotlight on benefits packages and the issue of retirement saving. The 401k offered by McDonald’s is far more lucrative than, say, Social Security, yet the chain still has trouble enticing employees to take advantage of it.

I could go on for some time here about budget constraints, the individual spending decision, and future value; but, instead, I will merely say that probably everyone (especially people who do not regularly read this blog, unfortunately) could benefit from increased reading on the topic of retirement saving. On that note, I think it’s appropriate to link to our recent policy study about Missouri’s public pension programs. A bit unnerving, but I learned a lot from it.