Young Americans run away from private accounts
We were shocked a few weeks ago when some polls showed that younger Americans were supporting creation of personal retirement accounts. In fact, our financial advisor was advising all Americans of all ages to stay away from personal retirement accounts since there was no net gain for even younger Americans. Latest research from Yale University further confirms that all Americans, including those under 30, will be better off if they opted out of the personal retirement accounts proposed by President Bush. (Related article: Always make a financial decision based on your personal financial situation)
Looks like as younger Americans learn more about them, they are realizing what they were getting into. Initial support that was based on lack of interest and not reading the fine print has now disappeared. According to Pew Research Center, "While public opinion on private investment accounts has not changed much in the past month, support for the idea among younger Americans - who up to this point have been the most reliable backers of the proposal - has weakened significantly. In February, people age 18-29 favored the idea of private accounts by a 66%-19% margin. Today, just 49% favor private accounts, while 25% are opposed, and nearly as many (26%) say they don't know how they feel about the issue." (Related article: Financial advisors are key to retirement planning since it can be quite complex for most Americans to keep up with all the changes in the tax laws)
As we had said before, the more you learn about the dirty secrets of the private retirement accounts the more you hate them. So President Bush is doing a great service to American people by campaigning so hard. It gives more Americans a chance to find out his real agenda and how it does not favor American people at all. According to the Pew survey, opposition to the plan to allow private accounts is much higher among people who have heard a lot about it than among those who are less familiar with it. Overall, people who have heard a lot about the plan oppose it by 52%-41%, while those who have heard little or nothing favor it by a 47% to 30% margin. This pattern is significant even when age is taken into account. In particular, people under age 30 who have heard a lot about the proposal are more than twice as likely as their less engaged peers to oppose the idea (45% vs.19%). And among older age groups, where opposition is higher even among people who have not heard much about the private accounts proposal, those who have heard a lot express the most opposition. (Related article: So who does privatization help then?)
The George Washington University Battleground 2006 Poll confirms Pew research. It also identifies Social Security as the leading response on an open-ended question about the top problem for President and Congress. However, a majority of Americans oppose private accounts - no matter how they are described. (Related article: Tips on guaranteed retirement income)
But the sad news is that Americans are still not paying much attention to privatization of Social Security as Michael Jackson trial and Terry Schiavo case take center stage. Despite the White House effort to keep Social Security reform on the front burner, public awareness of the issue has not increased substantially over the past month, the Pew survey finds. 46% say they have heard a lot about the proposal to add private accounts to Social Security, up only slightly from 43% in mid-February. About one-in-five (22%) say they have heard nothing at all about the proposal, unchanged from 21% a month ago. (Related article: How to make personal financial decisions?)
There continue to be significant age differences in attentiveness to the president's plan. Just 24% of those under age 30 say they have heard a lot about private accounts; those age 30-49 are more aware (41% have heard a lot). By comparison, 60% of people age 50-64, and 65% of those age 65 and older have heard a lot about the proposal. No wonder the AARP is fiercely opposed to the plan.
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Looks like as younger Americans learn more about them, they are realizing what they were getting into. Initial support that was based on lack of interest and not reading the fine print has now disappeared. According to Pew Research Center, "While public opinion on private investment accounts has not changed much in the past month, support for the idea among younger Americans - who up to this point have been the most reliable backers of the proposal - has weakened significantly. In February, people age 18-29 favored the idea of private accounts by a 66%-19% margin. Today, just 49% favor private accounts, while 25% are opposed, and nearly as many (26%) say they don't know how they feel about the issue." (Related article: Financial advisors are key to retirement planning since it can be quite complex for most Americans to keep up with all the changes in the tax laws)
As we had said before, the more you learn about the dirty secrets of the private retirement accounts the more you hate them. So President Bush is doing a great service to American people by campaigning so hard. It gives more Americans a chance to find out his real agenda and how it does not favor American people at all. According to the Pew survey, opposition to the plan to allow private accounts is much higher among people who have heard a lot about it than among those who are less familiar with it. Overall, people who have heard a lot about the plan oppose it by 52%-41%, while those who have heard little or nothing favor it by a 47% to 30% margin. This pattern is significant even when age is taken into account. In particular, people under age 30 who have heard a lot about the proposal are more than twice as likely as their less engaged peers to oppose the idea (45% vs.19%). And among older age groups, where opposition is higher even among people who have not heard much about the private accounts proposal, those who have heard a lot express the most opposition. (Related article: So who does privatization help then?)
The George Washington University Battleground 2006 Poll confirms Pew research. It also identifies Social Security as the leading response on an open-ended question about the top problem for President and Congress. However, a majority of Americans oppose private accounts - no matter how they are described. (Related article: Tips on guaranteed retirement income)
But the sad news is that Americans are still not paying much attention to privatization of Social Security as Michael Jackson trial and Terry Schiavo case take center stage. Despite the White House effort to keep Social Security reform on the front burner, public awareness of the issue has not increased substantially over the past month, the Pew survey finds. 46% say they have heard a lot about the proposal to add private accounts to Social Security, up only slightly from 43% in mid-February. About one-in-five (22%) say they have heard nothing at all about the proposal, unchanged from 21% a month ago. (Related article: How to make personal financial decisions?)
There continue to be significant age differences in attentiveness to the president's plan. Just 24% of those under age 30 say they have heard a lot about private accounts; those age 30-49 are more aware (41% have heard a lot). By comparison, 60% of people age 50-64, and 65% of those age 65 and older have heard a lot about the proposal. No wonder the AARP is fiercely opposed to the plan.
Recommended articles
Financial services industry to benefit from privatization
Baby Boomers have unique retirement needs
Are you prepared for retirement?
posted by eCreativa Media @ 11:22 AM
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