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>>I turned 65 and I wish they had allowed even 10% of the pyramid scheme called social security to be used for personal investing.<<

Have you done well with personal investments with the same financial institutions that will be receiving the payroll taxes to manage under Mr. Bush's reform program?

I know many people, age 70 and older, who are working full time, because their pension funds sustained huge losses during the last market ‘adjustment, leaving them with little for retirement. I assume that their social security contributions have become very important to their ability to feed themselves. And what about the elders who are infirm? They eat because of their investment in social security. What if there had been only pension funds available to them and no tax fir social security--would the infirm eat at all?

Most people I know don’t even trust the current US investment community or the stock markets—too much corruption has been endemic for too long, so they sit on a lot of cash right now. I know I would not want my payroll taxes going to Wall Street.

And they trust the government?

The old people I know that put little or no money into this
welfare fraud called social security are against allowing people some control over the money they earned are the ones who cry about some one getting a larger welfare check than them.

One more thing...I hope those who oppose Social Security can derive a better argument for reform than the black discrimination thing--it's too laughable, the notion of the Republicans, whose minions have been accused of oppressing, suppressing and tampering with the black vote in several key states, now touting social security reform by funneling black tax dollars to the very people who helped disenfranchise them.

I invest. And since 1997 I have put just over 12 grand into one retirement plan and about 4 into another. The big one is worth just over 29 thousand now and the small one is at about 8. I can move them all over to either high, medium and low risk, move them into or out of NASDAC and into or out of the DOW and I keep a very close eye on them. The small one I have in commodities and can move them all over as well. So my account is worth about 37 grand and I have just about 16 into them..and all this since early 1997. Wanna know what my SS account is up to? A wopping 22 grand! WOW thats a bunch now aint it!!! WOW all that since 1969! I can collect and live in comfort with the whopping 700 bucks a month I MIGHT get when I retire. I say might..because I doubt it will be around when I retire.

Point is-those 70 years olds you mentioned made a mistake when they lost on their accounts. They didnt pay attention to them and listened to a investor "expert" and he told them to stay into what they had.

Just prior to the market "correction" I had tucked away some money in a taxable index fund (Vanguard Index 500). Yes it took a beating, but it's now worth more than the original investment. A lot of the people whose investments got hammered were greedy, stupid, or both. Remember all those Enron sad-sacks the MSM would air footage of? "I lost all my retirement savings, wah!" But if they had been properly diversified they should have only taken a 5 or 10% hit.

I know I would not want my payroll taxes going to Wall Street.

If I'm remembering correctly, the private accounts are a voluntary mechanism, and folks who feel like you can continue with the traditional system and its low rate of return.

With the proposed system, the rest of us get some options for how we'll manage our retirement.