Most college seniors aren’t thinking about retirement, but that might not be a bad idea.

President Bush’s economists predict the U.S. Social Security system will be out of funds by 2042. Bush’s solution is to privatize the system, including allowing young workers to invest their Social Security savings into the stock market. The president is targeting workers between the ages of 19 and 39, and University students have their own opinions about whether that is a good idea.

Each month, the federal government takes money out of paychecks of workers in today’s labor force, and that money funds the Social Security system. Workers begin to receive Social Security payments when they turn 67.

“Current workers are paying the benefits of current retirees,” said economics Chairman Robert Newman. He said that in the current system, there is no guarantee that this generation will receive benefits.

Newman said the idea of most retirees relying only on Social Security is a myth. Most Americans see Social Security as a supplement to a 401k or pension plan they have, he said.

Newman said the Social Security system gives workers a bad return on their investment.

“During a good year, the annual return on your Social Security investment is 2 percent. In a conservative private investment, the return is about 8 percent,” Newman said.

He said once workers have more information about investing Social Security savings into the stock market, they will receive a better return.

“People will make decisions accordingly when given the rules, and they have a vested interest in the outcome,” he said.

Roger Pippin, a communication studies graduate student, does not agree.

“At the moment, [Bush’s plan] is a great plan, but it’s premised on the false belief that people know how to manage their money.”

Jacques Gauthier, a marketing senior, said he feels it is important to focus on trying to market himself better and to save more money on his own.

“[I] don’t plan on using Social Security,” Gauthier said.

Many University students say they think there will be no Social Security available for them when they retire or that it alone will not be enough to support them.

This has been a common conception of Social Security since the late 1970s, when the baby boomer generation came of age, Newman said. Most college students are the children of the baby boomers.

Justin Rayburn, a history education senior, said his parents call it “Social Insecurity,” and he has always been taught not to depend on it at all.

Leaders of the AARP — an organization for retirees — recently have spoken against Bush’s plan, saying it will be an excuse to reduce payments to current recipients and people who will receive benefits in the near future.

According to an article on its Web site, AARP would like to raise the retirement age or remove the set salary cap.

Kendra Main, a social work graduate student, said she thinks Bush’s privatization plan is a good idea.

“I think more people would be happy to know for sure that their paycheck deductions are going into an account that is only for them,” she said

Kamran Mahmood, a financial planner at American Express Financial, said people entering the job market in the next five years have many low-maintenance investment options like index and exchange-rated funds.

“These are important because the key is investing early,” Mahmood said.