"Would Americans Be Able to Pass on a Private Social Security Account to their Heirs?"

Annuities Cannot Be Passed On Upon Death. Many Americans, particularly lower income Americans, will be required to purchase an annuity with funds from their private account to ensure a steady income upon retirement. The New York Times Editorial Page points out, "The upside of buying such an annuity would be that you'd be protected against outliving all of your money. The downside is that even if you died immediately after retirement, the most your heirs would inherit would be the amount that remained in your private account after you had paid for the mandatory annuity." [New York Times, 2/28/05]