Bush Wants Strict Limits on Investing Payroll Tax

CHICAGO -- Any White House plan to let workers invest Social Security taxes in the stock market would include restrictions to prevent foolhardy investments, President Bush said Thursday, according to The Chicago Tribune.

Filling in a crucial detail of his Social Security proposal, Bush said workers would be given a narrow range of conservative investment options similar to the thrift savings plan for federal employees, to reduce the risk that they would squander their retirement nest eggs.

"You can't take it to the racetrack and hope to really increase the returns," the president said of his proposal to let workers divert part of their payroll taxes to private retirement accounts. "It's not there for the lottery."

Bush used the end of the two-day White House economic conference to make the case that Social Security is in dire need of an overhaul to avoid a financial meltdown. Critics questioned the president's gloomy assessment of the program's future as well as his proposed remedy.

-- NYSSCPA.org News Staff

Posted on 12/17/04