There are lots of questions about President Bush's plan to privatize Social Security. Here are the top ten most asked questions and the answers.

1. With all the talk about Social Security has anything happened recently to change my benefits?
NO – Nothing has happened to change your guaranteed monthly Social Security benefit! And nothing will unless President Bush's new legislation to change Social Security is passed.

2. Will privatizing Social Security cut my guaranteed monthly benefits?
YES – If you get $535 a month now, you will end up getting $321 a month. Privatizing Social Security will cut your guaranteed monthly benefits by 40%. Your benefits will be cut 40% even if you decide not to choose a private account.

3. Will the new plan include coverage of disability and survivorship benefits?
NO – The new plan will eliminate disability and survivor benefits. While 12% of the general population is African American, 17% of those receiving Social Security disability benefits are African American. African American children are 22% of all children receiving Social Security survivor benefits.

4. Who will suffer must by this new plan?
Women and minorities will suffer most by the new plan. Minorities have shorter life spans and both women and minorities are less likely to be covered by company-sponsored pensions, have more interruptions of their work career and are much more likely to depend on Social Security for their main income in old age.

5. Is the plan voluntary?
NO – Everyone’s benefits will be cut 40%. If you choose not to invest in a private account your benefits will still be cut over 40%.

6. Do I really control my money under privatization?
NO – The money is not yours to invest as you see fit: instead, the government will choose which funds you are allowed to invest in. Further, Wall Street firms will be selected for you and you will have to pay commissions and expenses to the Wall Street firm for handling your account.

7. Will privatization cost much?
YES -- Setting up private accounts will cots more than $2 trillion over the first decade. To pay for this massive expense, monies have to be taken from the Social Security Trust Fund, or would require further government borrowing, raising the already gigantic federal budget deficit.

8. Could I lose my retirement money?
YES – The privatized accounts are not guaranteed and with just a small down turn in the stock market you could lose everything.

9. Will I make more money with a private account?
NO – The government will take back 70 cents in your Social Security benefits for every dollar in your account when you retire. And that is on top of the 40 percent cut in your guaranteed retirement benefits.

10. Is Social Security going broke?
NO – with some common sense measures, the Social Security fund could be strengthened. Social Security is currently in the best financial shape in its history, enough to cover all promised benefits for the next 40 years.

Since the Social Security law was signed in 1934, millions of American workers have earned the benefits by paying into the system, creating a safety net that keeps retirees, survivors of workers who die young, and people with disabilities and children out of poverty.

The administration’s proposed plan to privatize Social Security does nothing to fix Social Security. Social Security does not need fixing. The administration’s privatization plan attempts to dismantle a system that has worked for 71 years and still works. You have worked hard for Social Security and the government shouldn’t jeopardize it!

Without the current Social Security funding levels, the rate of poverty among African American seniors would go from 24% to 64%. The basic fact is that the current Social Security system provides critical economic assistance for the families of African decent whose loved ones become disabled or die in the prime of their working lives.

And now Congress wants to horse trade -- one of the most dangerous deals under consideration in Washington involves moving the age at which people reach full eligibility from 68 to 70 years of age. Congress is again out of touch if they believe that two more years does not make a very big difference for the millions doing backbreaking work every day.
 

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