[2banana]

That's not savings, it's an investment. You don't sell your house to buy groceries when you lose your job. You need to do both: invest wisely AND have plenty of available cash for hard times.

Savings in a bank - you give them money and they give you a reward (interest) for using that money.

Savings in a 401K (which could be bonds, stocks, etc). You give someone money and they give you a reward for using that money.

Now we can argue about risk./reward, time frames or liquidity, but it is still putting money away (ie - not spending it) for a time in the future. The difference between "saving" and "investment" is pretty small and for things like 401ks not to be tracked really throws off the numbers...

[Huck]

Savings in a bank - you give them money and they give you a reward (interest) for using that money. YOU CAN ACCESS ALL OF IT AT ANY TIME WITHOUT PENALTY WITHOUT HARMING YOUR RETIRMENT INVESTMENTS.

Savings in a 401K (which could be bonds, stocks, etc). You give someone money and they give you a reward for using that money. BUT YOU PAY A HEAVY PENALTY FOR ACCESSING THE MONEY BEFORE IT'S 'DUE', AND YOU DAMAGE YOUR RETIREMENT INVESTMENTS BY TAKING MONEY INTENDED FOR LONG TERM INVESTMENT AND USING IT FOR IMMEDIATE NEEDS.

Get the difference? It's not insignificant.

[Pessimist]

"The difference between "saving" and "investment" is pretty small and for things like 401ks not to be tracked really throws off the numbers..."

Actually, to economists, the two reall are different. If they start including investment into savings now, that would throw off comaprisons to the past when they didn't.