Reply #8: Excellent question

[BansheeDem]

I think the more important question that's not being asked is exactly how much money will the typical worker have to invest in these private accounts? And what kind of return can be realistically expected? I'm sure the answer is a lot less than most people fantasize.

The typical worker would have to invest at least 5 percent of their payroll tax to see any sort of useful benefit because their SS payment will be reduced by a small amount to compensate for the loss of revenue to the system. I personally invest about 15 percent of my gross income; but it took me about 20 years to get to that point.

This partial privatization plan is not designed to make people rich or provide 100 percent of retirement; it is a supplement to their retirement. For most of us that have been vested in a similar plan (THRIFT) it means about $1000.00 per month additional. When you add in SS, and the normal retirement income, it makes for a fairly comfortable retirement. I worked out the figures, and it beats my SS income by about 30 percent.

Just as a note: My THRIFT account took a small hit during the tech bubble burst, but because it was in a professionally managed and indexed account, it has recovered all of that money; and then some.