Q. How serious is the Social Security problem?
A. It is important to realize there are two separate issues. One is that there is a long-run imbalance to Social Security finances. The other is whether we want to move toward a privatized system.
The long-run imbalance has to be addressed one way or another. The trust fund won't fall close to zero for another 40 years, maybe 50 years, depending on what projection you're looking at. You might or might not want to call this a crisis, but it is the case that we have to do something sooner or later. The earlier we do it, the easier it will be. On the other hand, it means future generations of participants will bear more of the costs of fixing the problem.
Privatization is not a program for addressing the long-run imbalance; privatization is a program for addressing other goals. <snip>
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/01/ssqa_lee.shtml