Who Wants Social Insecurity?

Now that the worst year on Wall Street since the Great Depression is finally at an end, is there still anyone out there who truly believes that people should be allowed to invest at least part of their Social Security funds in the stock market?

As more independent agencies add life insurance, group benefits, annuity and financial planning departments to increase revenue and hold onto clients, retirement planning will loom larger and larger for producer and client alike. Anyone who had to face clients this year, however, had their hands full explaining how we would ever recover from 2008's debacle:

–The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 33.8 percent last year–the worst result since 1931.

–The S&P 500 was even worse–losing 38.5 percent. Not since the index lost 54.5 percent from March 1937 to March 1938 has this benchmark fallen so far, so quickly.

–The Nasdaq composite index took the proverbial cake, plummeting 40.5 percent in 2008!

Overall, investors lost about $6.9 TRILLION last year!

It was bad enough seeing my 401k nest egg shrink day by day. Had my Social Security money been tied up in Wall Street securities, I would have been inconsolable.

Oh, sure, since I probably cannot retire for another 20 years, the loss of Social Security funds in 2008 might not have been catastrophic–at least in the short term. But what about those who are just a few years from retirement, or those already drawing benefits?

At a time when even the most sophisticated investors were taken to the cleaners by disgraced financier Bernard Madoff, can we really trust Wall Street to handle the funds in our retirement safety net?

Sure, the idea is that Social Security could not deliver the growth that Wall Street might over dozens of years. But what would be lost is the certainty and peace of mind we all sacrificed when pensions and defined benefit plans went by the wayside in favor of the so-called “Ownership Society”–which, as Barack Obama so aptly put it, means we are on our own.

Thank goodness President George W. Bush was unable to “privatize” Social Security after the 2004 election. I'm amazed Congress had the good sense to resist him on this reckless initiative.

It all comes down to this–if given the choice between having more “control” over my retirement funds, and being guaranteed a certain retirement income, I'll take the certainty any time. As the years go on, and as millions realize their 401k (if they have one) is inadequate to the task, this country is going to be in some pickle!

By the way, Social Security hiked benefits 5.8 percent this month as its cost-of-living adjustment. Did anyone out there see growth of 5.8 percent in their portfolio this year? Does anyone expect such growth this year?

I rest my case.

What do you folks think?