Most of the plans presented here seem to be avoiding the full privatization of retirement funding. Is anyone supporting a plan that puts all or almost all of the payroll tax into privately owned personal retirement accounts? It seems we should, over our 40 years of working, fund our own basic retirement needs. We can use a small fraction of the payroll tax to buy private disability insurance. The private accounts could split between married persons, giving 50/50 immediate ownership. The federal government might attempt to provide assistance to the few elderly whose personal accounts are insufficient. We can support current retirees on the current plan, but all new workers should go to the new plan. Others could opt out of the current plan. As all the fuss about the "trust fund" illustrates, we would be best served by not sending any of the payroll tax to Washington in the first place.
