Private Social Security Accounts Are Still a Good Idea - WSJ.com

In addition to the math explained in this article, Social Security is a Ponzi (pyramid) scheme that collapses when the bottom doesn't grow fast enough.  It really is that simple.

Shipman and Ferrara: Private Social Security Accounts Are Still a Good Idea - WSJ.com

Suppose a senior citizen who retired at the end of 2009, at age 66, had been able to set up a personal account when he entered the work force in 1965, at the age of 21. Suppose that, paying into his personal account what he and his employer would have paid into Social Security... ...their account, having earned a 6.75% return annually from 1965 to 2009, would still pay them about 75% more than Social Security would have.

It is a mathematical fact that the least expensive way to provide for an almost certain future liability is to save and invest in capital markets prior to the onset of the liability. That's why state and local pension funds, corporate pension plans, federal employee retirement plans and Chile's successful Social Security personal accounts (since copied by other countries) do so. It is sound practice.

And it's why Mr. Obama is wrong to assert that personal Social Security accounts are "ill-conceived," and why each of us should have the liberty to opt into one.