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Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Social Security Calculator

An earlier post dealt with a faulty calculator that appeared on the Web sites of Democrat Senators and some liberal organizations.

That miscalculator was set to understate the return on Personal Retirement Accounts, perhaps in an attempt to defeat President Bush's plan through a campaign of misinformation.

This one, on the Heritage Foundation's Web site works properly.

A married male 20 - 24 years-old, and spouse, both of whom make $25,000 tp $29,999, would accumulate more than $500,000 with a PRA. With a combination of the PRA and Social Security's reduced payment, they would collect almost $5,000 a month, and at retirement have a nest egg of $143,000 to boot.

Or, they could forego the nest egg and collect nearly $5,900 a month, either of which is a better return than Social Security alone will provide, assuming it is still a viable program in thirty or forty years. Social Security alone would pay this couple about $4,200 a month.

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