WASHINGTON - The American dream of a secure retirement appears in jeopardy this summer, and lawmakers are scrambling to find answers lest they be sent into early retirement themselves.
Three forces are merging to create anxiety: fears about private pensions sparked by a
default at United Airlines, frustration over 401(k) accounts invested in a
stagnant stock market and
President Bush's crusade to convince people that Social Security faces a funding crisis.
The result: The number of people expecting to have to work past age 65 has nearly tripled in the last 10 years, according to a recent Gallup Poll.
The solution? People aren't buying Bush's proposal to partly privatize Social Security - in the country or the Congress. But Congress is moving ahead on several fronts that could converge into a broad overhaul aimed at shoring up Social Security, pensions and personal savings.
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The menu of other possibilities includes these basic elements: creating a new, tax-subsidized, personally managed account apart from Social Security; raising the retirement age for Social Security benefits to save the system money; cutting benefits for the same reason; raising the amount of salary taxed for Social Security; creating new regulations for private pension programs to help ensure their solvency; and simplifying and expanding tax breaks for personal retirement saving.
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/11922285.htm
We sure don't want to resort to the old solution of moving in with our children.
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