Feeling Insecure About Social Security Proposal

The Jan. 11 story, “Social Security Goals May Clash,” avoids stating the obvious: Benefit reduction is likely to lead to increased poverty for retirees. Enticing workers to believe privatization “could allow workers to accumulate substantial wealth for retirement” is another bait-and-switch tactic well honed by this administration. Some may earn a reasonable amount in the stock market; others may not. All will pay increased administration costs.

The only workers guaranteed a decent retirement under a privatization scheme will be the Wall Street brokers who will benefit from the fees they will charge. We need only look at the effects of privatization in other countries, such as the United Kingdom, to see what is in store for us if we follow suit: future generations of destitute seniors.

Laura Carr

Quincy, Mass.

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Re “Bush’s Budget Moves Have Made the Future a Voiceless Victim,” column by Ronald Brownstein, Jan. 10: As a fiscal conservative, I am bold to say that the administration has demonstrated no ability to manage money. I have no confidence in this fiscally irresponsible administration to reform Social Security. There is no justification for a major assault on Social Security. If you trust the stock market, continue to put your 401(k) and IRA savings into it. But, dear sons and daughters, don’t remake Social Security into a variable-income asset unless you personally want to underwrite your parents’ old age by having them move in with you. Financial planners, corporations and governments already know that it’s not easy to generate a steady, fixed income from variable-rate investments. And so should you.

Barbara Johnston

Temecula