Singapore's paternalistic government is unappealing to many Americans — media restrictions, one-party rule, harsh penalties for gum-chewing.
But Singapore's retirement system is a model of honesty and transparency compared with U.S. Medicare and Social Security.
In 1984, then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew redesigned his country's retirement system to, as he later wrote, "avoid placing the burden of the present generation's welfare costs onto the next generation."