Under the White House Social Security plan, workers who opt to divert some of their payroll taxes into individual accounts would ultimately get to keep only the investment returns that exceed the rate of return that the money would have accrued in the traditional system.[snip]
Under the proposal, workers could invest as much as 4 percent of their wages subject to Social Security taxation in a limited assortment of stock, bond and mixed-investment funds. But the government would keep and administer that money. Upon retirement, workers would then be given any money that exceeded inflation-adjusted gains over 3 percent.
That money would augment a guaranteed Social Security benefit that would be reduced by a still-undetermined amount from the currently promised benefit.
In effect, the accounts would work more like a loan from the government, to be paid back upon retirement at an inflation-adjusted 3 percent interest rate...
Well now. Sounds like a real good deal to me.
Update: Brad DeLong explains further.
Posted by Linkmeister at February 3, 2005 08:16 AMhmmmm,
They have to iron out a few things. For instance,
would there still be beneficaries in case of death.
And, if the individual needs SS for a medical disability, could they get it, or is the money tied up until retirement???
The NYT had an interesting article on this in today's website...
Posted by: Toxiclabrat at February 3, 2005 05:37 PM