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Opinion: Special to SeniorJournal.com
Strengthening Social Security for our Children and
Grandchildren
 By
John W. Snow
Secretary,
United States Department of the Treasury
April 15, 2005 - In his most recent State of the
Union Address, President Bush spoke directly to seniors, saying, “I have
a message for every American who is 55 or older: Do not let anyone
mislead you; for you, the Social Security system will not change in any
way.”
For the President, a promise made is a promise
kept. It would be unconscionable to change Social Security for current
retirees, a generation to whom we owe so much. As a member of the
President’s Cabinet and a Trustee of the Social Security Trust Fund, I
assure you that you will see no changes to your benefits.
But just because your benefits won’t change doesn’t
mean you have nothing at stake in Social Security reform. In fact,
Social Security involves things that are vitally important to you: the
well-being of your children and grandchildren.
The President has laid out the principles which
should guide responsible reform and he is asking our generation for
help. America’s seniors must be involved in helping to strengthen and
save Social Security for future generations. President Bush welcomes the
wisdom of seniors and he wants our input. The reality is that the system
will not be there for our children and grandchildren if action is not
taken soon.
The problems facing Social Security grow with each
passing day. The government has made promises that it cannot afford to
keep under the current pay-as-you-go system. For example, in 1950, there
were 16 workers for every one person drawing benefits. Today, there are
just over three workers for each beneficiary. By the time today's
20-year-olds retire, that number will drop to 2 workers for every
beneficiary.
Last month, the Social Security Trustees issued
their annual report on the program’s financial health. The projections
were bleak. In 2008, Baby Boomers will begin to retire and by 2017,
Social Security will begin to pay out more in benefits than it collects
in payroll taxes. These deficits will grow very large, very quickly. By
2041 – when younger workers begin to retire – the system will be
bankrupt. The longer we wait to fix the problem, the more expensive it
becomes. According to the Social Security Trustees, every year we delay
action costs taxpayers an additional $600 billion.
Every parent hopes for their children to have a
better life and have better opportunities than they had themselves. The
President’s idea of ownership and voluntary personal retirement accounts
fits right in line with this human desire. Adding personal accounts to
the program will make the system a better deal for younger workers and
ensure that our children and grandchildren have better and more secure
benefits.
Personal accounts would be entirely voluntary. The
accounts would offer younger workers the opportunity to receive higher
benefits than the current system – and build a nest-egg that the
government cannot take away. Not only could our children build
something to pass on, they would be able to invest with the prospect of
a higher rate of return. This is why the more young people hear about
the ideas of voluntary personal accounts, the more they like it. A
recent poll has shown that three out of four Americans under the age of
30 favor giving individuals the choice to invest a portion of their
Social Security in voluntary personal retirement accounts.
Passing on the current system to our children and
grandchildren would be like leaving them a broken-down car that is not
safe to drive. We want to do better than that for our families. When
nay-sayers try to scare you with myth and misleading statements,
remember the President’s promise to seniors and his offer to listen to
all ideas on how to strengthen and save Social Security.
Together, we will demonstrate that America’s
creativity and ingenuity can once again meet the needs of its population
by embracing new and better ideas – in this case, ideas that allow
greater security and more options for future retirees. Our nation’s
younger workers deserve to benefit from the wisdom, thought and planning
of everyone, especially America’s seniors.
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