Personal Retirement Accounts Are Back: Count Us In!
From the National Taxpayers Union:
You've heard it again and again: Social Security needs to be
reformed, and soon. With the retirement of the baby-boom
generation and the changing composition of America's workforce,
the government's own analysts have determined that Social
Security will be insolvent in less than a generation.
Rather than forcing us into paying higher taxes or enduring huge
benefit cuts, the President has proposed "personal retirement
accounts" as a way to secure the financial futures of millions
of Americans.
You've probably read about this proposal before, but now the
plan for personal accounts has been included in the recently
released 2008 budget.
The President's budget contains resources for voluntary,
individually owned accounts that could be funded by a portion of
a worker's Social Security payroll taxes starting in 2012.
Participants could contribute up to four percent of their Social
Security taxable earnings (up to a $1,300 limit, which would
increase by $100 each year through 2017). This would be money
with your name on it, not an unfunded government IOU stored away
in some dusty filing cabinet.
However, some in Congress would prefer to raise taxes or simply
let the system slide toward its collapse. That's why a group of
dedicated activists called Students for Saving Social Security
has launched a new website
(http://ga1.org/ct/gdLp-In17QcQ/countusin) to unite grassroots
supporters of personal retirement accounts.
National Taxpayers Union is a partner of the
http://ga1.org/ct/gdLp-In17QcQ/countusin drive for personal
accounts, and I encourage taxpayers of all ages to sign their
petition in support of the President's proposals
(http://ga1.org/ct/g1Lp-In17QcP/petition_page). The stacks of
petitions collected will be delivered to Congress when
grassroots pressure in favor of reform is needed most.
Speak out today! Don't let Congress turn a blind eye to this
problem. Let lawmakers know that you support reforming Social
Security, by signing the
whttp://ga1.org/ct/gdLp-In17QcQ/countusin petition
(http://ga1.org/ct/g1Lp-In17QcP/petition_page)!
Sincerely,
John Berthoud
President