Choice with Social Security

[Poopy]

With all of this partisan rhetoric about social security out there, its hard to get down to the facts. The fact is Bush wants to give Americans the choice between two different social security systems. One which is guarenteed by the government, and one that may be riskier but also has a higher rate of return. Why is this choice such a bad thing? Are people too stupid to recognize and mitigate the risk in investing in a private account?

[BrandNew20]

my problem with it is what about those people who invest their money and fail? what if our country goes through a recession, there would be several seniors out there without social security to fall back on, which isn't fair to them, even if it was their choice.


Also, I'm interested on hearing about any other alternatives that people in Congress might propose, because looking at the data, it does seem as though something will enventually need to be done to address this issue.

[Cal Smith]

my problem with it is what about those people who invest their money and fail? what if our country goes through a recession, there would be several seniors out there without social security to fall back on, which isn't fair to them, even if it was their choice.


Also, I'm interested on hearing about any other alternatives that people in Congress might propose, because looking at the data, it does seem as though something will enventually need to be done to address this issue.

that's the risk and the reason why its optional.

[BrandNew20]

that's the risk and the reason why its optional.

but how well would the general public understand these risks...also would the federal government supply financial investment advice free of charge to give people a better chance of succeeding? Has a final version of Bush's plan been established yet or is it still in the making? I just have a lot of questions about this in general I suppose...

[justinevans]

but how well would the general public understand these risks...also would the federal government supply financial investment advice free of charge to give people a better chance of succeeding? Has a final version of Bush's plan been established yet or is it still in the making? I just have a lot of questions about this in general I suppose...

You can invest in tax-free municipal bonds @ roughly 5.5 % return.

Puts $$ back into the communities and they are rather low on risk.

I'm sure they are not going to want people to invest much in the stock market.

But if more people are investing in the market...and keeping their money in their for an extended period of time...the effect of the recession will be less...Especially if you diversify.

[BrandNew20]

at a 5.5% return though you could just put your money in a bank, also that rate is about equal to inflation is it not? Which means the overall worth of peoples accounts wouldn't really be growing, relative to the strength of the dollar.

edit, I guess inflation rates currently are about 2% lower.

[justinevans]

at a 5.5% return though you could just put your money in a bank, also that rate is about equal to inflation is it not? Which means the overall worth of peoples accounts wouldn't really be growing, relative to the strength of the dollar.

edit, I guess inflation rates currently are about 2% lower.

Yeah, inflation hovers around 2-3%.

but you missed the main part....TAX-FREE. Then again, putting it in a 401(k) makes most things tax-free anyway so you should buy them on the side.

But I said that it to eleviate the risk.

It is better now than earning 3% when inflation is 3%.

The biggest problem with social security is really simple...People are just living longer, which means they should be working longer.

[Poopy]

but how well would the general public understand these risks...also would the federal government supply financial investment advice free of charge to give people a better chance of succeeding? Has a final version of Bush's plan been established yet or is it still in the making? I just have a lot of questions about this in general I suppose...

There are thousands of sources for financial advice, lots are free of charge. People would just need the desire to learn and they could with the current resources available to them.

And if they did not have the desire to learn, they could stick with the current program. Thats the beauty of choice.

[Trainsaw]

the people that risk and fall flat on their face, who do you think they're going to go crying to when that happens, the government. I think that we need to raise the retirement age to about 70 that will solve alot of problems

[mondeoman]

I was going back and forth on this but I'm going no. This shows that Congress doesn't really connect with the average American. While most Congressmen are rather wealthy and can afford to watch their stock portfoilio or have someone do it for them, Joe and Jane America can't.

I just don't like this. Social Security is quite ingenious if you think about it and look at it. If we weren't so far in debt, we wouldn't really have this problem.

[MidniteVulture]

We should be given all the money that we've earned on our own because it shouldn't be the government's responsibility to make sure that we're going to be ok when we're older. That should fall flat in the hands of our own personal hard work and monetary skills.

[Trainsaw]

We should be given all the money that we've earned on our own because it shouldn't be the government's responsibility to make sure that we're going to be ok when we're older. That should fall flat in the hands of our own personal hard work and monetary skills.


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