Because saved money grows faster than the income of the average worker, putting it away generates ever-increasing rates of return relative to average wage levels. The money needed to finance Social Security in the future, if acquired today and saved, can generate additional funds at a lower cost to workers. BES sufferers are just as prevalent among those who want to preserve the current benefit structure as they are among those who are intent upon introducing individual accounts. BES sufferers are united by their unsubstantiated belief that their own saving plans can guarantee large amounts of future wealth. Such forecasts are impossible to make.
Economists are unable to predict, with certainty, rates of return over long periods.
Too many unforeseeable factors are at work. Other events further complicate this scenario. The current aging of the world population and the retirement of vast proportions of adults is a phenomenon without precedent, making precise financial forecasting, including accurate predictions of returns from saving, unfeasible. This unpredictability also exists on a more personal scale. No one knows how people will ultimately react to more deposits being made either in individual accounts or in the Social Security trust funds.