I get what you are saying and I agree it’s all a Ponzi scheme. However, using the Great Recession as the starting point for S&P performance is a little misleading.
And you are right, the system does tell you save your money whether in pensions, 401k’s, mutual funds, bank deposits, etc. Why…because they need the ability to leverage those dollars to make their bets. There is a reason so many sports franchises are owned by hedge fund managers and Wall Street executives. They make a fortune betting with other peoples money and know when they skirt the law, it will be a minimal fine relative to their returns (if they ever get caught). Create a derivative of a derivative, make it so complex that nobody can understand it, and sell it the unsuspecting masses. Fines are just a cost of doing business.