As President George W. Bush�s 60-day Social Security tour comes to an end, the latest FOX News poll finds that a large minority of the public is unclear on the voluntary nature of his personal investment proposal. In addition, the poll shows most Americans favor giving individuals the "right to choose" between keeping their Social Security contributions in the current system and putting a portion in an investment account, and just over half say they personally would want the choice to invest some of their contributions.
Though President Bush has talked about voluntary accounts, the new poll finds that while 57 percent of Americans understand the accounts would be voluntary, 27 percent believe they would be mandatory, and the remaining 17 percent are unsure.
Overall, fully 79 percent of the public think people under age 55 should have the right to choose between keeping all of their Social Security contributions in the current system and investing a portion of their funds. That support goes up to 84 percent among respondents under age 55.
On the personal level, 53 percent say they want the choice to invest a portion of their contributions, up from 48 percent in early February � soon after President Bush spoke in his State of the Union address about offering investment accounts. Among those under age 55, almost two-thirds (64 percent) want the option to invest.
More generally, when Social Security is not mentioned, most Americans say they trust themselves (77 percent) over the government (15 percent) when it comes to making retirement investment decisions.
Opinion Dynamics Corporation conducted the national telephone poll of 900 registered voters for FOX News on April 25-26.
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