The next bailout

Fortune's senior editor at large, Allan Sloan, says the next government bailout will be for a familiar program: Social Security. And if you thought AIG was bad, you haven't seen anything yet.

Many people have painted grim portraits of this program's future. Few have ever made the case that it could go cash-flow negative as early as this year. Sloan explains how that could very well be the case.

Sloan does an excellent job personalizing the way Social Security works - and doesn't work - through the use of his own example. It's a solid job of taking subjects most people really don't understand (like the Social Security "lockbox") and making them simple enough to grasp.

But more than just banging the drum of alarm, Sloan also offers several reasonable changes that would go a long way towards putting the program on a more secure footing. It's worth a read, if for no other reason than to prepare yourself to really understand this crucial issue that President Obama has promised is next on the reform agenda after the health care battle ends.

Update: Related item of interest - a new Rasmussen poll finds that "49% of U.S. voters say working Americans should be allowed to opt out of Social Security and provide for their own retirement planning."

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Mark Biller is Sound Mind Investing's Executive Editor. Visit www.soundmindinvesting.com to learn more.