> My state pension alone in the US is notionally ~$4k per month

That's huge! Does the US state pension scale based on your lifetime contributions (amount, not just years)? Because int he UK, if I retired with a full state pension today, I'd get $1345 per month. To achieve this you need to have contributed about a minimum threshold per year for 35 years. There is no way to increase this amount, only decrease it by not meeting the 35 years requirement. So to me, given the rhetoric about the US, $4k per month state pension along is insane.