Anna & Heidi. You Ident.the Facts but draw Wrong Conclusions.

[Carolyn Cox <CarolynSCox@csi.com>]

Retirement benefits are too low.  Payroll taxes are too high.  Government dictates retirement age.  Workers do not own their accounts.

Pay-as-you-go Social Security was instigated when demographics were VERY different.  Politicians have already ignored taxpayer costs and promised benefits exceeding projected revenue by $9 trillion.  It is irresponsible to simply stamp your feet and demand even more benefits be given to any segment of the population under the current program structure.

Women do live longer than men and do need more money for a comfortable retirement.  The solution is compound interest.  Oceola McCarty, the black washer-woman from Mississippi, stunned everyone a few years ago when she gave a scholarship to the University of Southern Mississippi for $150,000.  She never made more than $9,000 in any year but she created her personal wealth by saving pennies, nickels, quarters, whatever she could each week.

Women, especially, need the compounding effect on their money so that their money keeps working even when they are not.