WPLN News Archive; Cooper on Social Security (Anita Bugg) 3 7 05; News Archive 2/14/05-4/1/05

right now so scary is a problem it's not a crisis crisis we have america as a program called medicare goes it's already running a deficit it's going to be a much larger problem so scary yet the white house doesn't even want to talk about medicare what is a good way to attack the problem if it's not a crisis there are several things you can do to start addressing the problem a number one is any better understand the current system is oscar is really three program this one is a retirement program that's what the president's focus on was also a disability and life insurance program unless we can tell so far those benefits are so valuable they're so good are so worth what you're paying for them that no private company in america offers anything like them at any price so your throat out why are without realizing the true value what you got second there are still millions of americans are not participating are so scary system where primarily state employees in states like texas and other states like that they're few and tennessee i think in memphis and in chattanooga and for some wrinkles years ago they never got a system

the more people you have a system the more sounded as financial i also think that how we could probably experiment for fears along so scary trustees to invest some of the surplus and there isn't so scary surplus right there and there will be one a growing one until two thousand i think that some of us are close to the stock market and a sound fashion so you don't risk losing money for anybody and so scary and so no individual senior risks losing money that's the key principal costly individual privatized account puts a senior at a lot of risk they pick the wrong investments they could lose what life got their looks by surveys it looks to be a bit of a generational gap in others and there's no no one's feeling about this particular plan i mean even at the older ages people are a little bit conflicted about what i take advantage of it when i'm not i think it's good that they spent that younger people say sure give me a shot at investing some of this money or c a private concert right and we have tremendous opportunities to use private accounts today that young people are not taking advantage of them last year only three

percent of the tax returns filed in america showed that they were saving and their ira account that is so heavily subsidized by the federal government is worth it to put money in our eye even if you don't have the money it's worth it to go out and borrow money from a bank to put in an ira that subsidy is so strong and yet only three percent of american people are taking advantage of that for one ks people who have a four one k available at work are rejecting it they're turning it down because they think they can't stand of saving your money every week or every month we need to correct that either go see so scary was never intended to be your only retirement program he was only intended to be a supplement to what you are you're saving the trouble is today the people are not saving any other money so even if you fix so scary perfectly you will not have a complete retirement programs american people the real retirement program as that for one k sep plan that you may have available your work the ira plans those are the ways to really save money america and they have been available to all of us for thirty or forty years that psychologically for young people they go i'm painting and so

security let me take part that money and pain in and a bird it but with the version comes risk and you should have some requirement that you can always count on no matter what the stock market does it we have had stock market crises in the past as attempting to forget that the bubble of the nineteen nineties was only recently over children of the depression the greatest generation i know what a stock market crash was like in the stock market did recover its value for twenty or thirty years after the great depression so you can just put all your eggs are one basket third of ways to do things and as i say it is something we should fix they're met with to invest some of the social security trust fund for all americans in the market because you probably can get a battery repair why expose an individual singer who's on fixed income to that or risk goes i'm worried that really we have to have another source jury system to pick up also to get prey on by predatory lenders and other investment scams as most americans are not a skilled at investing as they think they are

a lot it's a tough thing to do and a lot of sharks out they're also part of your retirement plan should be completely safe man man thank you with

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