OUR TURN: IS PARTIALLY PRIVATIZING SOCIAL SECURITY TOO RISKY?

PRIVATIZATION IS ONLY WAY TO SAVE A DYING SYSTEM
FROM: THE GREENVILLE (SC) NEWS [link]
PUBLISHED FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2004

Discussing federal retirement benefits for those of us in our 30s is roughly akin to my belief that I'll play on the PGA Tour next year. It may sound good, but it ain't gonna happen.

I remember when Mauldin High School sponsored a congressional candidate debate between then-Congresswoman Liz Patterson and current Greenville Mayor Knox White when I was a student in the 1980s. Taking questions from the teenage audience, it finally happened. The subject of Social Security reared its head. There I sat, coming face to face with the realization that my Social Security would be long gone by my "mature" years. That was a tough pill to swallow at the age of 13.

Why is privatizing Social Security a bad idea? It's not.

This ill-conceived, planned and mismanaged system was doomed to fail from the outset, and it will not exist much longer. I accept that.

I also know that government exists to provide services its citizens cannot best provide themselves. Managing my money should not be one of those services. I can make better financial decisions for myself and my family than some faceless government bureaucrat who doesn't even know I exist.

Privatize away, Mr. President!

TAFT MATNEY, 31, LIVES IN GREENVILLE AND IS THE PRESIDENT OF A LOCAL PUBLIC RELATIONS AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS FIRM.