The staff editorial (“Mortgaging the Future,” page 6, Nov. 17) is correct to say that young people need to get serious about Social Security reform before it is too late, but the editorial board didn’t give us much of a reason to care. It’s true that the Social Security system will be bankrupt in 40 years and, without reform, our generation will never collect a benefits check, but that makes it hard to care about something that represents nothing.

Something young people can get behind is reform through the creation of personal accounts. With personal accounts, a portion of would-be Social Security taxes are returned to young workers to invest in stocks or bonds, and the accounts promise a host of improvements over the current system. For one, they guarantee individuals will receive retirement benefits because individuals own their account and can increase their nest egg through investment. For another, it gives our generation more control: We can choose where we want to invest our money, choose when we want to retire and choose to leave the balance of our retirement accounts to our heirs if there is money left over after we die.

The onus for Social Security reform lies with us, and if we let our leaders know we are serious about our future, we can direct the Social Security policy debate. Without reform we will be left with the same thing too many young voters did on Election Day: nothing.

Nicola Moore CAS ’04 Education Director Students for Saving Social Security