Washington (Jan. 16, 2003) -- Proposed reform measures to shore up Social Security would require trade-offs such as benefit cuts, tax increases or raising the retirement age, a General Accounting Office study found.
Implementing proposals made by President Bush's Social Security Commission in 2001, including a controversial proposal to add personal investment accounts, would require general revenue funding for about three decades, even with universal participation, GAO said.
A copy of the report is available at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03310.pdf
The program’s annual cash flow is projected to be negative beginning in 2017, Comptroller General David M. Walker said in testimony before the Senate Special Committee on Aging Wednesday.
"Adding individual accounts would require new administrative structures, adding complexity and cost," GAO concluded. "Public education will be key to help beneficiaries make sound decisions about account participation, investment diversification and risk."
-- Electronic Accountant Newswire Staff
