It isn’t going to be one or the other (if they don’t offer a 401k, then you can use IRAs), unless you just make a bad choice. An employer can contribute to a 401k and also provide a pension (mine used to but I’ve been around long enough that I get both the pension and 401k with matching) but if I had a choice, I could pick a pension for example but also put money into an IRA for retirement that would normally go to a 401k.
If you absolutely had to pick one, it isn’t going to be the same answer for everyone. Amounts, what you’re able to contribute, matching, risks and tax situations are going to vary from person to person and their employer.
As far as controlling your money, some 401k’s allow some extra control, some don’t but most have a middle ground except for their company stock which you can usually directly buy. If you’re 401k allows general different ‘markets’ and/or ‘lifecycle’ buckets (they get more conservative on investment risk the closer you get to your retirement age) is, at the end of the day, all controlled by a broker and they are making the actual decision as to what to invest and how. Some plans may allow you to invest into individual stocks through the 401k’s brokerage though.
At the end of the day though, if all you had was a pension offered which you aren’t going to be contributing your income to, then you should invest in some sort of retirement plan yourself, be it an IRA, money market, bonds, CDs or whatever.
Where I live not only do we get put on hold but sometimes they don’t answer (not enough dispatchers) and response time (except for shop lifters which is quick response) is about 4.5 hours for serious stuff and 72 hours, if they do show up according to my own experience and those I know in the community.
Their budget is right over $4 Billion/year. The area I live in gives a boost of around $60 mil/year on top for expanded help so we don’t have to have our own city PD.
Also I wanted to add it’s the Sheriff, so we do contribute to the 4 bill/year via county tax like everyone else and are in their jurisdiction already.
Fantastic return on investment.