From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
Date: Sat, 31 May 1997 02:19:56 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: How much you lose under Social Security -- socialsecurity.org
Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.3.95.970530110010.8489F-100000@well.com>
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 30 May 1997 10:59:17 -0700 (PDT)
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
To: fight-censorship-announce@vorlon.mit.edu
Subject: How much you lose under Social Security -- socialsecurity.org

I'm over at the National Press Club now, just came from a Cato Institute
press conference unveiling their socialsecurity.org web site. It lets you
calculate your retirement income and compare how much you'd get from the
Federal government's Social Security "fund" compared with a private system
like a 401(k). 

And it's fun to play with. Let's say I was born in 1970 and make $30,000 a
year (BTW, I wasn't and don't). Assuming I retire at 67 and inflation is 3
percent, Social Security would give me $1,293 a month after I retire. And
that's if you assume Social Security won't go belly-up, a hard position to
maintain since its own trustees say it's underfunded by 25 to 33 percent.

Compare that to a stock fund, which yields so much more: $8,635 a month.

I can't think of a better argument to privatize Social Security and move
to a system like an IRA or 401(k), a solution the Cato folks have
advocated for years.

Before the big government folks out there criticize Cato's calculator for
being biased, let me point out KPMG Peat Marwick did all calculations and
programming.

-Declan