Social Security: Personal Investment Accounts (PIAS)

Abstract

Today, the Social Security payroll tax is the largest tax that the average American family pays.  Social Security is also the largest government program in the United States, with almost half of all government receipts going to pay for Social Security. Concerns about the long-term solvency of Social Security have produced numerous options for Social security reform.  Among the more interesting proposals was that made by President Bush that would allow individuals to manager their own private investment accounts (PIAs).  In this paper, we examine the potential effects of PIAs be ones age and gender.  We also examine the tax consequences of the proposed PIAs and other potential concerns of PIAs.