I support private accounts

I support private retirement accounts provided by the federal government. Anyone who's ever moved jobs knows that rolling over your 401(k) is a pain. And many service industry workers don't even get 401(k)s. So let's create a national 401(k) account for every American. If we want to enforce savings, an additional payroll tax can be applied, with a subsidy for those who don't make enough to effectively save for retirement. Citizens could chose their own brokerage firm to manage this account, and employers could provide a match like they do now (if you're lucky, that is).

Notice I didn't say anything about eliminating Social Security Insurance. That's a guaranteed benefit you can count on. Let's keep it that way.

That means Social Security can't be allowed to go bankrupt. Fortunately, its finances are in good shape, a fact that even Republicans have been forced to admit. In fact, Social Security's finances are getting better because of the amazing productivity improvements of the American worker. Pessimistic conservatives are not the ones we want running a plan to replace Social Security.

Keeping Social Security fiscially sound means not investing in private accounts, a move that will cost $15 trillion over the next four decades (those are CBO numbers). Instead, let's focus on fixing the overall federal budget problems, and create a new program that allows people to invest in their own private accounts for retirement income that supplements Social Security.