Editorial: Taking stock of stocks as nest egg

Wednesday, Sept. 2, 1998 | 11:27 a.m.

But the loud noise you heard Monday was that same giddiness over stocks coming to a screeching halt, as the Dow Jones industrial average suffered its second biggest one-day point decline ever. The market recovered some of the losses Tuesday, but the past year has been a wild roller-coaster ride. In case we forget, stock markets do dip, and even crash.

One thing that proponents of privatization don't want to address is this: What happens if people place their nest eggs in the stock market and it collapses? Who will take care of them then? What kind of burden will that put on taxpayers?

Social Security should be reformed, and ideas allowing people to invest a small portion of their contribution into whatever investment they wish should be explored seriously. The past few weeks should sober Americans, however, to the realization that stocks aren't always a sure bet. Sometimes they can be a bad bet.

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