Anyone who presides in a low or middle class family in America has thought to himself/herself at least once, ‘Will Social Security be there when I retire?’ This question has haunted me for the last ten years, and it still does. We need change. Let me elaborate on a simple alternative.

What if we divert the 7.65% that we are each mandatorily funding Social Security and Medicare and the 7.65% that our employers are matching into our own, individualized, tax-deferred retirement fund? That’s 15.3% each year that could automatically be sidelined for your own future. Let me provide some simple math for a low to middle class family:

Take an individual beginning work at age 23 (after college graduation) earning $35,000 a year. After 30 years of fixed-income employment (no raises) contributing 7.65% of his/her income (and the employer matching with 7.65%) in a medium-risk portfolio (10% annual return), equates to $1.0 million at age 53. Yes, I said *million*. To reiterate, a $35,000 annual salary contributing only 7.65% of your income over 30 year could be $1.0 million. Now consider that same employee working until he/she is 65, rather than retiring early at 53, and the amount increases to an astounding $3.45 million.

What are we not doing in Congress? C’mon folks, let’s get this ball rolling. I am sick and tired of watching our money get thrown away by big government! Let the individual determine our futures, not you!