I don't mind getting older. But, I dread the thought of burdening my children. Like most people, I want to remain financially independent. As the stock market has tumbled and huge corporations have collapsed, this goal has become less and less possible for many Americans.

According to a recent USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll, a third of adults say they have no retirement savings at all. Although many work for a company that doesn't offer a retirement plan, others simply don't take advantage of the opportunities they have. Of those saving for retirement, nearly half say they will have to work longer to make up for their recently lost savings.

While social security was never designed to be more than a safety net, the Employee Benefit Research Institute reports that it provides 89% of the retirement income for the poorest retirees. In the USA Today poll, 44% of retirees said it is their primary source of income. Yet, the social security trust fund is expected (by its trustees) to vanish by 2041.

These statistics, along with a string of corporate scams and bankruptcies, could foretell a generation of destitute seniors. While Congress would commit political suicide if it let social security starve to death, it must do more to assure that our pension systems are safe and sufficient.

I spent eight years as a trustee of Colorado's Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA), the state's pension system for most government employees. It has provided secure retirements for many thousands of Coloradans as a defined benefit plan. That means that both employers and employees contribute a set percentage of the employee's salary to PERA and, upon retiring, the employee receives a specified benefit every month, based on salary and years of service.

The pension plans that have fallen victim to corporate failures are mostly defined contribution plans, such as 401(k)'s, where the employee bears the burden of participating and investing. Some of these plans invest heavily in company stock, putting employees at grave risk if a company collapses. Most, including Qwest and Enron, have had blackout periods during which employees could not sell stock, sometimes even as the company floundered.

Both types of pension plans can provide economic security if they meet several key principles. First, investment policies should require a diversification of assets. No one's pension should be invested entirely or mostly in one asset, like company stock, which could lose all its value.

Next, people must be able to take their pension investments with them when they leave a job. Whatever employee and employer have paid into the account belongs to the employee, with interest. When taking money out of an account before retirement, however, an employee must reinvest it for retirement, as current law provides.

Since the 1970's, pension administrators have had to offer employees financial education. This only works if an employee is interested. To think that education alone will solve our pension problems is foolish. Employees must be offered a mix of investment options, including professional management, diversified assets and objective financial advice as well as personal choice.

Congress should allow blackout periods only for very limited reasons and for a very short period of time. Employees must be freed from the blackout restrictions if a company's stock drops by a certain percentage. No employee should have to watch helplessly as her nest egg evaporates.

If a large number of employees have no access to a pension plan other than social security, it is even more important to fix the system. That doesn't mean giving individuals a big chunk of social security money to invest as they wish. The potential for big losses is too great. But, it could mean offering more ways and more incentives to invest in personal retirement accounts, such as IRA's.

Many hard-working people can never afford personal savings. Social security needs to be there for them. Others see their savings vanish in a tough economy. Our system needs to provide better tools for protecting their assets. Otherwise, our children will bear the burden of our old age, something most of us would fervently deplore.