"Current Rate of Return Like Stuffing Retirement Money in Mattress," Group Says
3/14/05

WASHINGTON -- The free-market grassroots group Americans for Prosperity today sent $50 Mattress Warehouse gift certificates to five key officials who have repeatedly expressed opposition to creating Personal Retirement Accounts in Social Security. The move is designed to illustrate how the current financing of the Social Security system shortchanges retirees with low returns on their contributions.

“The current Social Security system only provides retirees with a 1-2 percent return on the payroll taxes they have taken from them throughout their lives,” said Americans for Prosperity President Nancy Pfotenhauer . “That's like saving for retirement by stuffing money in a mattress instead of wisely investing in safe, diversified index funds over 30 or 40 years. If these officials are so enamored of ‘mattress-stuffing' retirement planning, I hope they'll use these gift certificates toward the purchase of mattresses in which they can store their own retirement savings instead of growing their money in sound, safe investments like mutual funds or 401(k)'s.”

Americans for Prosperity sent the Mattress Warehouse gift certificates to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Senator Ted Kennedy, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and AARP President William Novelli. All five officials have vehemently opposed the creation of voluntary PRAs for younger workers, although they all invest their own non-Social-Security money in stocks, mutual funds, real estate or other high-return investments. The gift certificates, which can be viewed at www.socialsecurityforall.com or by scrolling below, are redeemable anytime in the next year, either online or at any of Mattress Warehouse's 95 locations throughout the Washington, D.C., area.

Personal Retirement Accounts ( PRAs ) would allow younger workers to voluntarily put part of their payroll taxes into highly diversified stock and bond funds that will almost certainly grow at a much higher rate of return than the current system. Americans for Prosperity has endorsed PRAs in its Social Security Reform Principles, which can be viewed at the group's online Social Security reform hub, www.socialsecurityforall.com.