wonkish, complicate, casino where only the rich get to keep there winnings?
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/05/politics/05benefits.htmlMemo Gives New Details on Workings of Bush's Social Security Plan
By DAVID E. ROSENBAUM
Published: February 5, 2005
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Now these details of the memorandum from the Social Security actuary, Stephen C. Goss, to Charles P. Blahous, the main White House staff expert on the program, are circulating among policy experts:
Mr. Goss said a "shadow account" would be calculated based on how much the retiree's investment account would have been worth if it had all been invested in bonds with an average yield of three percentage points above inflation.
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Those who had low wages in their working years would be required to put at least part of the money in their accounts into lifetime annuities, instruments that make a guaranteed monthly payment for life but then expire and cannot be left to heirs.
Retirees who were more affluent could invest or spend their accounts as they wished.
But the guaranteed monthly payments from the government would be determined as if the tax money they had paid to the government were reduced by the amount in the hypothetical shadow account.
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