Someone will have to subsidize the elderly poor, one way or the other. There are many ways to spread the pain. The sooner this is done, the less the burden will be, on later generations.

From my perspective, at age 36, I'm much more concerned about the uncertainty of what's going to happen down the road than I am about the substance of what the answer is. If somebody told me that Social Security was not going to be open to me at any time if I have more than a certain amount of money, I'd be ticked, but at least I'd know what to plan for.

With the uncertainty, however, I have to plan on getting nothing, even if it turns out that I get something in the end. It's leading many people to make inappropriate decisions about their savings plans because they don't have any certainty. Which seems ridiculous, in light of the fact that we are quite certain that we're paying our FICA taxes, with the prospect of still another payroll tax hike being thrown around as an option.

I'd like to think that having this figured out would also have a positive effect on the bond market as a whole, which as is has to worry about the potential flood of new debt issuance to subsidize unfunded benefits at a future date.

dan