And something else Romney and Obama might have discussed:

 Most Americans are financially totally unready for old age.

"Only 58% of us are even saving for retirement in the first place. Of that group, 60% have less than $25,000 put away....Almost half (48%) of workers ages 45 and up have less than $25,000 saved." -- ConvergEx Group

For perspective, Fidelity estimates that a couple retiring this year will need $240,000 just to cover medical bills before they die. If you haven't already, try to get long-term health insurance -- it's significantly cheaper the younger you are, and unlike Medicaid, should that continue to exists, you won't have to be bankrupt to benefit.

ConvergEx also found that "22% of retirees claim they're taking more than they thought they would out of their accounts, depleting their savings even faster than they anticipated," so even that $25,000 is less than it seems.

Having a pension may not protect you, either. Pew Charitable Trusts estimates public pensions are underfunded by $1.38 trillion. Standard & Poor's estimates that S&P 500 companies are $355 billion short of what's needed to cover pension obligations.

"Of the 500 companies, 338 have defined-benefit pension plans, and only 18 are fully funded." -- The New York Times.

You might have wondered why one candidate or the other didn't suggest that pension plans be fully funded as a matter of law.

The government solution is to have us work longer, maybe our entire lives. But that's assuming we'll be able to work 'til we drop dead. Even now, and it's going to get worse as medical science extends our lives, a healthy 25-year-old female can expect to live to nearly 100 years old. Let alone to a nonagenarian, there are few jobs that will be offered to a 55-year-old worker when a stronger, faster and more eager 25-year-old is available. And that's if you're healthy enough to work: dementia, osteoporosis, breathing disorders, heart trouble...there are a lot of diseases waiting in the wings as we grow older that will make any job impossible.

Finally, for a majority of people, Social Security, in the best of circumstances a meager instrument of defense, will be the only thing staving off ruin. And the looming "grand bargain" between Obama and the GOP trolls to balance the federal budget has cuts in that "on the table," too.