I remember the 2004 initiative, the ownership society etc.

1) If you diverted funds from the pay as you scheme and invested in it stocks etc, how would they make up shortfall? Why doesn’t the govt itself invest like an old school pension or annuity — it doesn’t have to restrict itself to US bonds?

2) isn’t that effectively turning SS into another 401k? Many workers feel the old school pensions were better than 401k, unless you ah e to be an investing wonderkind (which likely means you took a lot more risk).

3) if people start investing SS, and markets go down like 2007, isn’t the govt still going to be on the hook to provide for retirees just like currently?