[BrianShaw]

Please read this with a certain amount of healthy skepticism because I am sure there are better ideas out there than my own simple ones.

I don't know too many "normal working people" who would disagree with your simple and straight-forward approach. I thought there already were government protections on defined-benefit pensions. But now I'm learning that there are protected parts of the defined benefits, and parts they can weasel out of. And even the protected parts aren't fully protected it seems.