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Private Accounts Fall Short

President Bush said: “Here is why personal accounts are a better deal. Your money will grow, over time, at a greater rate than anything the current system can deliver…”

FACT: Under the president’s plan, personal savings accounts would be adopted in tandem with a new price indexing formula, which would cost a 20-year-old just entering the labor force 34 percent of his or her expected benefits. This would amount to almost $134,000 over a lifetime of work. The private accounts proposed by Bush would give that 20-year-old “a chance to gain back, on average, about $47,000,” still $87,000 short of what he or she would get under the current system.

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