Thursday, January 27, 2005

Bush Plan Poses Tough 'Safety Net' Questions

Bush Plan Poses Tough 'Safety Net' Questions

We need a few answers yet:

  • Would the accounts be voluntary or mandatory? If they are voluntary, when would a worker decide whether to participate? Would the decision be irrevocable?

  • Would workers be permitted to cash out their accounts when they retired, or would they have to buy annuities that pay a monthly sum for life? If a new market develops in private annuities, who would regulate it?

  • What access would spouses and children have to the savings in private accounts? What happens in the case of divorce?


  • Meanwhile, down in Chile, "If people really had freedom of choice, 90 percent of them would opt to go back to the old system."

    Isn't it a little frightening that Bush is citing a program set up in a third world dictatorship as our shining example to follow?

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