By 2030, the Social Security Trust Fund is expected to be exhausted with only enough resources to cover 72 cents per dollar of promised benefits, the White House reported. The White House proposal is one of several proposals to shore up the current Social Security system. White House officials believe the investment of government funds in the private sector would achieve higher returns for Social Security and would keep Social Security solvent until 2055. Not so, said Alan Greenspan, chair of the Federal Reserve Board. Greenspan told the House Ways and Means Committee that the investments would not achieve the anticipated high returns.
Financial experts note that although the stocks outperform bonds, stocks are riskier.
The White House recommended working with Congress to develop a neutral mechanism to ensure that the investments are made independently and without political interference. Members of the General Board of Church and Society approved a statement urging US leaders to protect and strengthen Social Security, affirming that the current Social Security system has protections for women that are not present in the privatization plans. The government would place in the account an equal dollar contribution and would also match a portion of each additional dollar an individual puts voluntarily in the USA account. The government would place larger matches into the accounts of lower-income workers. Call your congressional leaders and urge them to keep the current Social Security system intact.