Wow, was going to stay away from this topic but someone actually looked at Chile. I wonder if these or other reporters will go to the other countries who have tried this?
"Even many middle-class workers who contributed regularly are finding that their private accounts - burdened with hidden fees that may have soaked up as much as a third of their original investment - are failing to deliver as much in benefits as they would have received if they had stayed in the old system. "Dagoberto S�ez, for example, is a 66-year-old laboratory technician here who plans, because of a recent heart attack, to retire in March. He earns just under $950 a month; his pension fund has told him that his nearly 24 years of contributions will finance a 20-year annuity paying only $315 a month. '"Colleagues and friends with the same pay grade who stayed in the old system, people who work right alongside me," he said, "are retiring with pensions of almost $700 a month - good until they die. I have a salary that allows me to live with dignity, and all of a sudden I am going to be plunged into poverty, all because I made the mistake of believing the promises they made to us back in 1981." "With many Chileans finding themselves in a situation much like that of Mr. S�ez, people are still looking to the government, not private pension funds, to ensure a secure retirement." ..."If people really had freedom of choice, 90 percent of them would opt to go back to the old system." http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/27/business/worldbusiness/27pension.html?ei=5090&en=42c98585c86afe88&ex=1264482000&partner=rssuserland&pagewanted=all&position= or http://tinyurl.com/5k7hk CATO designer of plan refused to talk about it to reporters. Instead they have added a lying calculator to their site. -- Gary Denton Easter Lemming Liberal News Digest - I think Brin was on to something in 'Earth' in suggesting the right to vote be dependent upon subscribing to some opposing viewpoint media. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
