Please note that my post (to Phil) had no reference to Fox, Rush or anyone actually. The statistics are out there on the long-term returns available for investors (not speculators or traders). They cannot be refuted responsibly.

My point was and is that responsible people can invest, over the long-term, some or all of the money going to the SS system and come out considerably better off than they would be with the pittance that the SS provides.

The investment choices are simple: Index funds. Very low costs and quite diversified. A variety of Index Funds available would provide the diversity any responsible investor would seek.

Middle, you are correct that allowing current employees to divert some of their money out of the SS system would put a strain on it, in the short-term. Nevertheless, because the system is broken does not mean we must continue it without end, does it? After all, it was conceived as a temporary solution for a temporary problem.

Like Medicare and Medicaid I would phase out these programs over a long-term transition. For SS, into a private investment program that would channel those funds into the safer, more diversified investments. There is no place for wild-ass speculation in retirement planning. Slow and steady wins the race.