So this paragraph from this article pissed me off:
So, too, with a privatization of Social Security, which is a generational transfer of income from workers to retirees. If workers divert, say, one-sixth of their Social Security savings into private accounts, then retirees’ incomes will be diminished, unless the government cares for deficit spending to the tune of, say, a half-trillion dollars. And those private accounts themselves could very well go south: It’s been known to happen; it’s called a slump, a recession, the occasional breakdown of a sector of the U.S. economy. Call it opportunity, properly defined.
Which is missing the point. Right now, the best retirement deal is a 401K, but in practice, only employees of large corporations can really participate, such as the reporter at the Washington Post who wrote this. IRAs are supposed to be the alternative, but since you’re severely limited in the amount you can donate put into an IRA, its not really worth it compared to a 401K plan.
So the government takes 15% of my salary to put it in a shoddy retirement plan. If I try to be responsible and supplement that plan, the government won’t let me.
That’s just stupid.
What President Bush has proposed is basically a 401K for everyone, that you can take from job to job, and manage yourself. It just makes sense. Any risk after that is a personal choice, there’s no reason you couldn’t choose a private account consisting of only T bills.
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