Social Security website warns about private accounts

Don't believe there's a danger to private accounts replacing Social Security? Let's go to their website:

In a Q&A about the retirement program on the agency's Web site, there is this exchange, which has apparently been there for years:

"Question: I think I could do better if you let me invest the Social Security I pay into an individual retirement plan (IRA) or some other investment plan. What do you think?"

"Answer: Maybe you could, but then again, maybe your investments wouldn't work out. Remember these facts:

• "Your Social Security taxes pay for potential disability and survivors benefits as well as for retirement benefits.

• "Social Security incorporates social goals — such as giving more protection to families and to low-income workers — that are not part of private pension plans; and

• "Social Security benefits are adjusted yearly for increases in the cost of living — a feature not present in many private plans."

In midpage at http://www.ssa.gov., near the top, is the phrase "Questions about." From the drop-down menu, viewers can choose "Taxes and Social Security" and go to Question 18.