[TruthWillWin]

Even calling it a trust fund can be misleading and confusing to retirees, members of Congress and the media alike. The trust fund holds not money but IOUs from the government to itself.

Sounds like "Enron" accounting to me.

[cynicom]

Why not get back on a sound basis...Demand the government replace every dime they have stolen from the SS fund for many years. Then make it a crime for any politicians to "borrow" a dime in the future. Perhaps then we could have a dialogue about "saving SS"...

[Mark Turbo]

Think of it this way: Would you invest all of your retirement money in one place? Of course not. So why let the federal government invest it that way? What is called "privatization" is better termed "diversification." Everyone knows that you should diversify your retirement investments.

That's exactly the way to think about it.

[RAT_Poison]

I'll turn 32 in November. I do not expect to receive any Social Security benefits. My wife and I invest in our 401(k) plans sponsored by our employers. My question is this: What effect will the bankruptcy of the Social Security system have on the stock market and the U.S. (and world) economy? And, what would be good investments to hedge against these effects?

[weikel]

PJ O'Rourke in "Parliament of Whores" has some great stuff on social security and the flaws of Democracy in general.