[Moneyguy1]

The entire landscape of retirement is changing. Today, responsibility for retirement is nearly totally in the hands of the individual, and the hope is the economic gods are kind and the individual makes prudent choices. Defined benefit, which in the past was the majority of plans, is far different than defined contribution. Part of the problem was the underfunding by corporations and governments, as they assumed (wrongly) that the benefits promised could be paid out of current revenues. That is to say, no rational planning for the future. The number of corporations currently tranferring their obligations to the government assurance program is proof of this. How about Enron and Global Crossings as poster children for a "safety net" of some kind? Talk to those who lost their retirement due to mismanagement and fraud.

Social Security was originally designed as a safety net, not a retirement plan. It was morphed over the years into just what it was not designed to be. The reform plans that have been proposed over the years have all been a bit vague on detail, simply bringing it up as an "issue". Perhaps if Congress had not raided the fund to balance (?) the federal budget, the potential problem would not be as much of a concern as it currently is. A possible start would be to use the "lock box" technique and put Social Security contributions off limits to our elected officials.

Originally, municipalities were not included in the Social Security program. I do not recall the year that changed, but the original idea was that pensions were generous enough to carry the retiree thorugh his or her "golden years". The government(s) were given the option; some took it, some did not.

The abuse of the system to build up individual pensions is essentially a management problem, and can be controlled. I have experience with municipalities, and there are those that can and do control this. There are others who ignore it to their own (and their taxpayers) peril.

This is a very complex problem, and no single approach will resolve it. The onus is on the individual, yet as a society, savings are at a very low ebb. Many people see no chance of ever retiring, burdened with a growing amount of personal debt. Neither this administration or any previous ones have come up with the "perfect" solution, and never will. The future is unknowable, people are nervous, and uncertainty rules in today's economic climate.