Clarification/Follow-up by tomder55 on 03/21/05 12:56 pm:
I'm not interested in putting a patch on a leaky Titanic. Both parties have been doing temporary fixes to it for over 20 years . Raising taxes;taxing the benefits of seniors and extending eligibility age. What BS the system sucks and needs radical changes if not dismantling ;but neither side will go there. The great icons of liberal policy are imploding ...what a legacy to a failed theory of government.

Clarification/Follow-up by Choux on 03/21/05 1:03 pm:
WHAT DO YOU PROPOSE AS A RADICAL RIGHT CONSERVATIVE???

Clarification/Follow-up by tomder55 on 03/21/05 1:06 pm:
That's easy ;let me have my money and invest for my retirement on my own .Privatization is working in Australia very well .It works in Chile also . It works for the hypocrites in Congress . If the system is such an icon then why is Congress not in the Social Security plan ? The thrift plan they use is a good model in that it has few investment choices, limited opportunities for changing allocations, few statements, and therefore low administrative costs.


If they insist on taking my money then at least they should have the honesty to put the money in the Al Gore's famous lock box and not deceive everyone by claiming that there is a surplus while they have plundered from the fund. I cannot believe the sheeps who think that all that is needed is a tweek here and an adjustment there.

According to the Social Security Online web site's Frequently Asked Questions "Social Security was never meant to be the sole source of income in retirement. It is often said that a comfortable retirement is based on a "three-legged stool" of Social Security, pensions and savings. American workers should be saving for their retirement on a personal basis and through employer-sponsored or other retirement plans."

Well they have been doing a pretty good job of sawing off one of those legs by plundering it. So instead of doing that I would phase out SS altogether . I instead would encourage employers to offer their employees sound and reliable pension plans. our government should look at creating more incentives for employers, both to offer reliable pension plans.

Why not mandate participation in 401 Ks ? Take the 12 % combined employer and employee contribution and just invest it in money market and index funds ? When I first participated in a 401K plan I was amazed at how very little money contributed turned into a bonanza about a year later;much better than my company pension plan was returning . Even with the bear market of the 2000s, I'm way ahead.

Dollar cost averaging is the key and not a difficult concept to explain .Einstein said the most powerful mathematical formula is the miracle of compound interest! Even with the ups and downs of the markets if I could've invested all the money I've paid into the system I would be very secure today knowing that I can retire in relative comfort . Now they talk about increasing the age of retiremet up to 72 . The average life expectancy is 77 . Nice of them to allow me to have 5 years on the links .

Clarification/Follow-up by Choux on 03/21/05 1:39 pm:
PRIVATE ACCOUNTS IS ONLY A *SMALL PART* OF HOW SOCIAL SECURITY MUST BE REVISED.

PLEASE ADDRESS OTHER MATTERS. THIS IS A COMPLICATED ISSUE. :)

Clarification/Follow-up by tomder55 on 03/22/05 7:29 am:
No it is not a complex issue. The question is ;what is the purpose of the system . If it is a safety net program then move it to the welfare depts. and stop the charade that it is guaranteed retirement account.If it is a retirement account then it should be treated like it is ,with secured funds inviolate to plunder.

There is no way to fix the current system .All they can do is put more band-aids on the system and *kick the can* for a few more years. The system is unsustainable. It depends on rosy economic scenarios all the time ,and a constant influx of new workers into the system.

That is why neither side is making a big deal about illegal aliens ;they are needed to help fund this system. Think about it . A worker sneaks across the border ;obtains a fake SS card to get a job. The worker continues to work and pays into the system and many times for various reasons forfeits the money . Sometimes they become legal eventually under their own name which means that they start over in the system .Sometimes they work and return to their country ;occasionally they become legal through amnesty .But for many of them they never see a return on the money collected from them.

I prefer to phase out the system and replace it with a system as I have described that has employee mandatory savings and in return a Minimum guaranteed retirement for those who fall thru the cracks .