Social Security, once used to create financial security for the elderly, now is unlikely to provide any financial security for tomorrow's generation of employees. As the nation's population grows older, a dwindling number of young workers are supporting a rapidly increasing number of retired Social Security beneficiaries. In 1945, there were 42 workers supporting each beneficiary. Thirty years from now experts predict the ratio will fall to just two workers for each beneficiary. The result of this imbalance will be a projected deficit in Social Security funds by 2016, and total bankruptcy by 2037.

Many people believe that the trust fund created by additional taxes can cover the added funding requirement. However, there is no "lock box" to protect the fund; it is being spent as a current source of revenue. The surplus is not guaranteed. Congress should consider another, more sustainable retirement system.

One option is a Personal Retirement Account (PRA). PRAs are tax-exempt personal retirement funds to which employees contribute part of each paycheck (instead of Social Security). They are privately managed funds with contributions that can be invested to gain higher returns and a better assurance of future solvency than Social Security provides.

A private alternative to Social Security is not just an idea, it is a working system right here in Washington state. In 1994, Sound Transit, the public agency created to manage the Puget Sound region's new transportation infrastructure, opted out of the Social Security tax system. Today, Sound Transit employees invest their retirement savings in a privately managed pension fund.

Sound Transit employs 270 people. Total payroll is about $29 million per year. Employee contributions to their private retirement accounts can reach eight percent of each employee's paycheck, or $2.3 million of agency payroll per year. The agency contributes another twelve percent on top of that, totaling almost $3.5 million annually.

Sound Transit employees are not the only ones who have opted out of Social Security, other select state employees have been doing so for years. Some cities are also freeing employees to invest through the Municipal Employee Benefits Trust (MEBT). The MEBT is similar to a private 401K plan. Employees contribute money into a privately managed fund, and the city matches their contributions up to certain limits, depending on the details of the plan. The MEBT is successful in many cities such as Bellevue, Federal Way, Redmond, Edmonds, and Woodinville. Public employees in these cities do not pay Social Security taxes.

Even with many working examples of private retirement accounts, there are still reasonable questions that must be considered. One concern is the supposed risk of stock market investments. However, history has shown that, while the market fluctuates, investment returns increase steadily over the long term. For example, there has been no twenty-year period since the 19th century when the stock market did not make money, including the period after the crash of 1929. In fact, the average annual rate of return in the stock market is about seven percent. Under Social Security, retirees only get about one to two percent returns.

Others are concerned that if Social Security is reformed those who are currently, or soon will, receive benefits will lose a portion of their planned return. This is not true, according to the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security. A transition period using existing tax revenues would insure that current retiree benefits remain unchanged.

Select government employees should not be the only ones to benefit from a profitable and secure retirement plan. All employees, both public and private, should have the opportunity to contribute their payroll taxes to a plan that can provide better individual financial results and guaranteed long-term sustainability than the Social Security system.

Offering an alternative to the Social Security system is sound fiscal policy. Without major reform, the current system cannot maintain financial viability. Private account options will give all individuals, not just government employees, the opportunity to plan for a safe, secure and financially independent retirement.