You might be missing the issue here. A savings account will cost you money in the long term - ie. your purchase power will decrease every year because the interest paid on savings accounts does not even keep up with inflation.
The longer and more money you have in a savings account, the less purchase power you actually have. Think of this like putting $100 into the account but only being able to spend $90 of it. Multiply that by your life's savings... and this becomes a horrible way to save for retirement.
A Money Market account would be better, and nearly as safe as a savings account.
IRA's and 401(k) where you control you money is ideal. If you don't want to be bothered to pay attention to the markets... get yourself a managed IRA (yes, a fund would then be in control of your future). With a managed portfolio, you generally get some say over how your money is invested - so you could direct them to invest in industrializing economies (which would help lift people out of poverty over time). Just because you make money on the stock market doesn't mean someone is getting screwed over...
Bottom line is, a savings account will lose you money over time (and that doesn't even touch on the maximum amount you can have per account to be insured, which is far less than you'll need for retirement).
