Using Microsoft Money, you can calculate it in 5 minutes. Imagine the wealth all Americans could have in their retirement. Imagine how much the government has siphoned from social security. These two amounts are the same. Anyway, there has never been a 20-year period in the stock market's history where it lost value.
Money is lost from short term trading.
This is their only argument that requires more than 1000 brain cells to answer. Philosophically, I don't consider you responsible for me and vice versa. Some people don't make enough to finance a decent retirement. This broken record we hear on TV about how the multitudes of baby-boomers are over burdening the system should insult your intelligence. If the Trust Fund hadn't been looted the baby-boomers would be the richest retirees in history.