John McCain continues to advocate for "personal accounts" where social security money can be directed through investment banks to stocks and bonds. today, the world's fourth largest investment bank failed, as did a top stock brokerage. if John McCain becomes President, today's events would have a greater effect than the present economy: it would impact your post-retirement future as well.
TODAY'S A GOOD DAY TO REMIND AMERICANS WHAT JOHN MCCAIN IS WILLING TO RISK.
john McCain's website continues to call for "personal accounts". s(at very bottom of page). the Wall Street Journal article comparing McCain and Obama's social security plans offers more detailsept. 7, 2008. McCain's proposal would be limited to "younger workers", and permit only a portion of their social security funds to be directed to wall street.
we are all aware that markets rise and fall. Today is a particularly bad day, in a day quarter, in a bad year. Presumably, once your social security is in the market, you can't take it back out. so, you would be riding the market to every low and every high (where private investors would be able to sell high and buy low, you can get an idea of who will win and who will lose on a majority of these transactions). As Obama says, its not too much safety net to have social security a constant while your 401k's value rises and falls based on the economy.
The lesson of today is that private corporations fail, no matter how large. Bankruptcy of an investment bank sponsoring mutual funds of social security interests would lead to devastating consequences. Would a Bear Stearns use social security accounts to leverage more risky investments, and when those go south what happens to your account? Would the government need to guarantee these accounts from fraud or bankruptcy loses? Would an investment bank get out of bad positions by selling to the social security accounts and enhancing the accounts of their own customers?
would privatizing social security open new highly lucrative post-service lobbying jobs for members leaving Congress?