The editorial on Social Security ("Social security issues will not be solved by individual investments," Feb. 7) is wrong. My mother doesn't tie my shoes any more. I actually learned to do it myself.

Here we are with the best and brightest -- the cream of the crop -- and you can't figure out how to make yourselves financially secure in the next 45 years? Shame on you. The same people that are scaring you about Social Security are the same people that forgot to tell you there is no money in your Social Security account. Because it is an unfunded liability, they are using scare tactics to buy your vote; they cause your Social Security to now be taxed where before it was not.

You cannot pass on a lump-sum benefit, or asset, to your children with Social Security like you can with a private fund. Folks, knowledge and information will set you free. Your own private plan, controlled by you, will generate four to 10 times the value of Social Security. Social Security advocates are trying to keep you under government control. Open your eyes. Whiners will not succeed.