Depending on your company's 401(k) plan, your fund options may be limited, and you may be stuck with higher fees than better fund alternatives. You make some good points. The 401(k) was never something meant to make anyone RICH, but to potentially make someone solvent and possibly even financially secure in retirement, so that they're not totally reliant on the government for an income. It was also meant as an alternative to pensions, which are rarely offered these days outside government and big companies. It's not a financial panacea, or even a means to become rich or wealthy.

But you're not giving the stock market its full due as an income source. With a private brokerage account, you can sell covered calls, cash secured puts, and buy LEAPs. These are investment strategies that when properly used, can give returns far greater than the 6-12% annual return you'd get simply parking your funds in an S&P 500 ETF or mutual fund.

But really, the best means to become rich isn't necessarily through an investment, but through a business. The rich are rich because they have significant and reliable cash flow that allows them to funnel money into more traditional and risky investments that can generate yeield far greater than inflation.