Letter: Retirement accounts will save Social Security

Wednesday, April 10, 2002 | 9:03 a.m.

Recently the trustees of the Social Security Trust Fund released the annual report on the health of the Social Security system.

Headlines across the country heralded that Social Security was stronger than originally thought, and disparaged the notion of a "crisis," simply because the projected date of Social Security insolvency was moved to 2041, rather than 2038.

But Social Security is still in crisis. If reporters would have dug deeper into the report, they would have found that in 2017 -- 15 years from now -- Social Security will begin to spend more than it takes in. That means the government will have to begin to cash in on the "bonds" it claims to keep. The problem is: There is no money to cover the bonds. Therefore, the only way the government can obtain money to cover Social Security expenses is to raise taxes (to 20 percent just for FICA) and to cut benefits.

So far, liberal politicians have not presented a plan to save the system, except to raise taxes and to cut benefits on an already overburdened nation of taxpayers and underpaid seniors.

The only way to solve the crisis is through a system of personal retirement accounts that allow younger workers the opportunity to control their retirement savings. PRAs ensure that Social Security will be around for decades to come, and that the draconian payroll tax hikes and benefit cuts that will be needed without reform can be averted.

SUSAN WOJTKIEWICZ