Being a Ponzi scheme, Social Security will gradually fail in its intended purpose one way or another unless a significant change is made. Many options have been suggested. We can't allow opting out (i.e. privatization) without raising Social Security taxes, cutting benefits or driving Social Security into red ink. I see raising the eligibility age as immoral, since the goal of society should be to give the elderly a longer retirement rather than make them work longer. The underlying problem is that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme, which would be illegal if offered by a private citizen (and with good reason). Social Security should have been set up as the equivalent of a 401K, but that is past hoping for. If Social Security had been set up properly, it would have been based on investment in the stock market. With the fund in government control, the government should invest it in stocks. This thought startles some, but it is lower risk than leaving Social Security as it is. The Social Security trust fund, currently at about 1.86 trillion dollars, will disappear by about 2042, forcing benefit reductions of 20 to 30%:

http://zfacts.com/p/784.html

That would be a loss of about 2.8% per year. Over the last thirty-six years, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has increased by about 8% per year in real dollars:

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/hp?s=%5ED...g=m&z=66&y=396

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001519.html

Therefore, even if economic times were significantly worse than they have been for the last 36 years, investing the trust fund in stocks would still make sense. I appreciate all replies. Thank you very much.

__________________
"I am a Tory Anarchist. I should like every one to go about doing just as he pleased- short of altering any of the things to which I have grown accustomed." (Max Beerbohm)