Click here for the American Savings Education Council's worksheet to find out. But Bush said private accounts would help boost returns from the system, which he said will face increasing financial strains as baby boomers retire. Personal savings accounts will transform Social Security from a government IOU into personal property and real assets. Bush has proposed shoring up the program by letting younger workers voluntarily invest some of their payroll taxes in private accounts, arguing that the stock market will provide a much greater return over time. AARP condemned Bush's plan and the commission.
Opponents point to recent stock market volatility as a reason against such accounts.
They also say the private accounts would drain too much money from the program. Click here to find out. The bipartisan panel of eight Democrats and eight Republicans was asked to report its recommendations in the fall, and Bush hopes lawmakers will begin to act on legislation in 2002, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. Bush said he wants his to be different, to make good on his campaign pledge to allow voluntary private investment accounts. The makeup of the Social Security commission was by design, said Fleischer.