I think retirement is a pipe dream...

If I remember from another post you made, your father in law worked for Shell. If that's the case, they are more than well off. I would not be going out on a limb to say they take care of their employees better than any other company (not just in the O&G industry, but across all jobs in our region). Their pension was outstanding. Most pensions now-a-days are watered down from the past, but some companies still have them along with the 401K plans. Shell matchs 10% in their 401K plans. That shirt adds up over time!
I know a couple people that work for Shell now, and they said they have done away with pensions for new employees, starting about 5 or so years ago.
Pensions are good as long as you can trust the company. Just look at what Hostess did to their employees. "borrowed" their pensions to help the company, then filed Bankruptcy.. I am sure there are many more instances of companies screwing employees over in cases like that..