So is raising taxes on Social Security recipients. Raising taxes on those who are still working may not be nearly as easy, but that is some future administration's problem, as far as today's liberals are concerned. Riskiness depends on what time horizon you have in mind. There is no question that stocks are more risky than bonds or bank accounts this year. But retirement money is not being put aside to be spent the same year.
Inflation alone steals the value of money put in a bank or invested in securities with fixed yields.
Obviously, you can find individual stocks that did badly but there is no need to invest retirement money in individual stocks, when there are mutual funds that invest in a cross section of stocks, in order to spread the risk.