A New Vision For Social Security
May 24, 1999
Excerpts from Steve Forbes's Tuesday, May 18,1999 address
to the Small Business Survival Summit.
"Social Security, of course, was originally designed to save
Americans from poverty, and for years it did just that. But today it's providing
working families a terrible return on their money. That's why Baby Boomers are
increasingly anxious about their retirement security. So are women, who tend
to live longer than men and need to be assured they will have enough to live
on when they retire. So are young people who are getting punished by sky-high
payroll taxes and think they're more likely to see a U.F.O. than a Social Security
check when they retire.
"But Washington, D.C., still doesn't get it. You get it, and
I get it. But the politicians on the Potomac are still stuck in the past. They're
scared of change. That's why they don't know what to do about the new generation
of investors and innovators. They say today's workers will never be able to
pay for their own retirement. They say Social Security is a huge crisis and
that it can only be solved through shared pain and sacrifice. I say Americans
shouldn't have to feel politicians' self-created pain.
"The problems facing our Social Security system really are a
source of opportunity - an opportunity to spread ownership and harness the markets
to deliver increased retirement income for every American worker. No one should
be left behind. Every one should be free to experience the miracle of the markets.
"Today, with your indulgence, I'd like to lay out my plan to
save Social Security and give every working family a stake in the New Economy
- a place where every working man and woman will own an asset of value and eventually
be able to pass it down to their children and their children's children."
To read about Steve Forbes' plan to transform Social Security
to a system of individually owned, privately invested accounts go to http://www.forbes2000.com/hq/retire_speech.html.
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