The Future Is Never Certain

The Baby Boomer Generation ponders the financial stability of their retirement years. What does the current Social Security controversy mean for the future?

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) February 26, 2005 -- The expensive Iraqi war, our current fragile economy, an unpredictable stock market, plus our already trillion dollar deficit: as the 77 million people in the Baby Boomer Generation approach retirement, is forcing many Americans to take a stand now on what they want when it comes to their Social Security and their future.

The current White House is pushing to privatize Social Security, warning that we are in a Social Security crisis and that it all may go bust" in a few years. But this may not be the case. The Congressional Budget Office assures that our current Social Security Trust Fund will last at least another 47 years. Other economists believe it will last forever.

Originally, Social Security worked based on the idea that many people would die before they would be eligible for benefits, due to our lower life expectancy as little as 50 years ago. But now, people are living longer, and the government is panicking at the thought of having to spend money on the elderly. President Bush has proposed a solution to this potential crisis: instead of depending on Social Security, he recommends that Americans establish Personal Retirement Accounts", encouraging individuals to build their savings on their own. This is a component of his Partial Privatization" plan.

What does this mean to you? The Government proposes that you invest a portion of your payroll taxes in order to supplement the aid of Government retirement programs. Supporters of this plan stress the benefits, calculating that the return on a Personal Retirement Account would actually exceed the return on any Social Security trust fund. They also point out that it would keep the Social Security trust fund solvent well beyond 2037, when some economists fear the fund could run dry.

However, US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan believes that not only is the privatization to Social Security not the answer to the Governments money problems, it will actually increase our national deficit. On February 16, 2005 he spoke to members of the Senate Banking Committee. In regards to the idea of privatizing Social Security in order to protect national savings, he explained, this is one of the very rare cases in which you can increase the deficit but not increase the national savings." He does not advise that the U.S. require retirees to invest part of their Social Security benefits in stocks.

Investing is always risky, and, statistically, more people lose money on investments each year than profit from them. Investing is not a sure-fire substitution for Social Security funds. Retirement-4-U, a professional retirement consultation and planning firm out of San Francisco, CA, is concerned about this proposed plan and its effect on the average American. As the government encourages investing, Retirement-4-U wants to stress that every retirement portfolio needs a strong foundation, and that foundation should always be Social Security and Pension funding.

Investing is a risky business. Risk is the very basis of the stock market- if you take a big risk and win, you win big. But if you take a big risk and fail, you lose everything. If your plan is going to involve investments, you must be very careful, or your financial future is at stake.

What do I do if there is no Social Security aid left available by the time I retire? I have to be prudent, regardless of whether or not there really is a Social Security crisis. I am trying to build my personal savings as much as I can, but at great risk. I feel like a paranoid squirrel storing nuts for winter," says Michelle Fehlman, a 41-year-old energy trader in Dallas.

Reducing Social Security benefits and asking Americans to take dangerous financial risks is not the solution to any crisis. The current plan for privatizing Social Security is a gamble with ones Social Security benefits that could very possibly make the investment brokers rich and the Social Security recipient poor. The survival of Social Security depends on the government meeting its obligations to the American people and properly funding the programs designed to support taxpayers.

The future of Social Security seems to be hazy at best, and there may indeed come a time when Personal Retirement Accounts and investments are necessary facets of your retirement planning. If you are not confident in your investing abilities, early retirement planning becomes even more vital for the financial security of your golden years.

No matter what the future may bring, there is always a way to be prepared. Retirement-4-U can assist you in establishing a reliable, accurate plan that can help you weather whatever Social Security storms may come our way.

To learn more about Retirement-4-U, visit their website at www.retirement-4-u.com

###