"Social protection systems are a crucial fundament of society. Since consumption continues after retirement, particularly as individuals may be confronted with significant spending on medical treatment and other forms of care, saving for this consumption during one’s working life is imperative. However, individuals are unlikely to make sufficient precautionary savings when working. For one, they may lack the ability to act with perfect foresight and/or therefore not fully recognize the need to set sufficient resources aside when working. Others may in fact consciously refuse to take any precautionary measure as they plan to freeride on the benevolence of governments by assuming that they will not be left to their own devices in old age. Besides those who put forward such short-sighted and morally dangerous arguments, many individuals may simply be unable to save when working due to low income, lack of access to saving mechanisms, or the negative impact of external events that may have wiped out any accumulated savings."