Social Security

To give America's struggling seniors a lifeline out of poverty, Franklin D. Roosevelt 70 years ago established the Social Security system. The program was never intended to be particularly generous -- and even after increases over the decades, the average check totals just $14,000 a year. Yet Social Security remains a mainstay for America's 36 million seniors; two out of three of them count on it for half their income.

Now, a cash squeeze endangers Social Security's future, as the huge Baby Boom population heads into retirement. If nothing is done, the system may only have enough money to pay today's young workers about two-thirds of their benefits when they retire. So President Bush and other free-market advocates are suggesting the most sweeping change to this core social program since its inception, based on a simple premise: Let the stock market help fix it.