Six Reasons to Reform Social Security

The rate of return on Social Security is 2 percent or less and since 1926 the average rate of return on the stock market has been 7.56 percent.

In 2017, the government will begin to pay out more in Social Security benefits than its collects in payroll taxes - and shortfalls grow larger with each passing year.

Every year we sit and wait to act on Social Security it costs an additional $600 billion dollars.

$10,000 invested in the Social Security Trust Fund in 1998 would be worth only $11,700 today. However, $10,000 invested in the Federal Employees' Thrift Savings Plan, evenly distributed between bonds, and stock and blended funds, would be worth $42,173.

According to recent poll by Harvard University's Institute of Politics, 52 percent of undergraduates support changing Social Security to allow for private investment. What's more, 43 percent of the undergraduates surveyed were "traditional liberals" while only 14 percent were "traditional conservatives."

And here is why young people, both self-identified conservatives and liberals are supporting the President on Social Security.

Voluntary personal retirement accounts give younger workers the chance to receive a higher rate of return from sound, long-term investing of a portion of their payroll taxes than they receive under the current Social Security system.

Ken Mehlman
Chairman, RNC

Copyright © 2005 Republican National Committee