The future of Social Security
I hate to admit it, but for once I might actually agree with the (worst ever) President on something....the privatization of Social Security. I've spent my few working years so far saving up early and often for retirement since I've always lived under the assumption that there will be no Social Security around in forty years when I reach my retirement age. While I've always felt this way, that by no means implies that I do not want Social Security to be around. I know that the majority of Americans are not able (or, in some cases, willing) to save an adequate amount of money for retirement, and Social Security has become almost an essential way of life for millions. And that is the way it should be.
Why is privitization good? Well, there are many reasons which others have discussed much more eloquently than I ever could (link). But basically, for me, if I have a little account of my own with my name on it, that makes me a whole lot more comfortable than knowing my hard-earned money is just floating around out there in the general pool. I realize that most plans do not intend to put all of one's money into their own account, but even just having a piece of it under my own watch would give me some peace of mind. I think deep down, many Democrats agree, but this is just such a hot button issue, and Democrats were hoping to call it their own and use it as part of their platform for 2008. Well, I'm sorry to say guys, but it doesn't look like it's going to wait until then...so stop trying to derail this train and get on board and make sure it turns out to be what is best for Americans, not just your little party. And yes, I do agree that there are much more pressing issues and matters that should be receiving our attention at this time, but it looks like this is the one that's up for now, so deal with it.
Why is privitization good? Well, there are many reasons which others have discussed much more eloquently than I ever could (link). But basically, for me, if I have a little account of my own with my name on it, that makes me a whole lot more comfortable than knowing my hard-earned money is just floating around out there in the general pool. I realize that most plans do not intend to put all of one's money into their own account, but even just having a piece of it under my own watch would give me some peace of mind. I think deep down, many Democrats agree, but this is just such a hot button issue, and Democrats were hoping to call it their own and use it as part of their platform for 2008. Well, I'm sorry to say guys, but it doesn't look like it's going to wait until then...so stop trying to derail this train and get on board and make sure it turns out to be what is best for Americans, not just your little party. And yes, I do agree that there are much more pressing issues and matters that should be receiving our attention at this time, but it looks like this is the one that's up for now, so deal with it.
This entry was posted by Brad, on
Saturday, February 05, 2005.
You can leave your response.
2/07/2005 8:57 AM
I completely disagree with you. The problem with private accounts is that it
1) Will cost a ton of money, putting us further in debt. The idea of social security is that we are paying for the workers who are retiring now. So basically your money is not being saved in the general pool at all, it is paying for the retiring people of today. When we get old the workers will then be paying for us.
2) The main point behind private accounts is reducing benefits. By creating private accounts your gaurenteed benefits will go down. While I am not planning on social security to be my entire retirement, I do see it as a nice solid fall back plan. So that I know whatever happens I will at least have something.
The real problem is that the argument is presented this way: The only way to save social security is private savings accounts. Actually private savings accounts don't do anything to save social security... the trillions of dollars that would have to be sunk into the system is what would actually be saving it.
The real solution is to raise the cap on social security taxes. Right now you are only taxed on the first 90k of income, meaning a poor minimum wage workers pays a higher percentage of tax than the richest super star. If you remove this cap then social security would not have to change and it would be around for a very very long time.