>Maybe so for some of us, but maybe not for a lot of others.
>While individuals are forced to contribute, so are their employers.
>That doubles the contribution for each employee.
>
>Many of us are self-employed so it all comes out of our pockets, but most people aren't.
>
>Back in the mid 1990's I was a wage slave for a company that had a very nice 401K program and they matched the first 6% that I contributed at 100%. I was disciplined enough to put 15% of my salary into that 401K. I would have rather had the money that my employer (and I) were contributing to Social Security to contribute to my 401K.

..That would of been nice until your 401k lost money. That being said...I doubt that happens too often. I remember reading on this forum years ago about members complaining that they'd lost of bunch of $ that was in their 401k. I do not think the stock-market is really a fair playing field for us little guys. Unless you have a good financial planner with series 6 or series 7 you don't stand a chance - and even then if you don't have a zillion dollars to play with it's very difficult.

>Of course, from 1999 until 2013, when I was president of Tightline Computers, it was even worse because, as you rightly say, our company was paying both halves of the tax.