Originally Posted by goober

Social Security is probably the most efficient retirement plan on the planet, as far as operating costs go.
It's like a giant insurance company, and it does exactly what it was supposed to do. Before Social Security, being old meant being poor, that has largely ended.
Sure, you need to save for retirement, Social Security provides a floor below which no one can fall.
The problem with private plans is that they don't all work.
There were airline pilots who were going to get 125,000 a year from the company pension plan, except that those plans defaulted and now they get 27000 a year, big difference, there were people who saved a bundle in their 401K, and put it in Enron stock.
Remember, the average return from Wall Street is 6%, that's the average.
It means that when Warren Buffet makes 30% on his billions, or George Soros or Kirk Kerkorian, then other investors make less than 6%, they even lose money, in order for the average return to be 6%.
Who do you think loses? Hint, it's not the wealthy well connected investors, it's the little guys, 90% of investors lose money on their first investment.
With Social Security Reform, that first investment will be their pension plan.
That's the real world, and it's why Social Security is a necessary part of our American experience, that if anything should be expanded.