Not really. Two points. First, the rebound has more than offset the drop, so people relying on 401Ks should have been fine as their balances have increased to more than offset the drop. That is unless they panicked and took their money out of the market. In that case, they made a very poor decision. You can't protect people from themselves. The market is cyclical, so there will always be downturns followed by growth. You have to take long term perspective on the market. Second, a person in retirement shouldn't have as risky of investments as someone who has years to go. A person already retired should not have lost 1/2 the value of their portfolio during the downturn. I was years away from retirement and didn't lose anywhere close to half of the value of my portfolio. Based on what you posted about how much you lost, I would guess you have a portfolio invested mostly in stock, and the stock leans toward a higher risk factor. Mine was made up of a mix of stocks and bonds with a moderate risk factor. You have probably done very well in the last several years with that portfolio. That being said, with the market as high as it is, you may want to consider reallocating some of you portfolio to lower the risk factor of your investments. None of us knows when it will happen, but a downturn is inevitable at some point. Just my two sense.