Members of Congress, like Paul Ryan, get a very nice pension that is not subject to the ups and downs of the stock market. Ryan supports raising the retirement age for Social Security recipients, but as a member of the House for more than five years, he'll be able to get his pension at 62. If he stays in the House for a total of 20 years, he'll be able to get his pension at 50. Mitt Romney's not worrying about retirement, either: He has a $100 million IRA

By contrast, traditional pensions are increasingly rare for the rest of us, and, according to economist Teresa Ghilarducci, "Seventy-five percent of Americans nearing retirement age in 2010 had less than $30,000 in their retirement accounts," but "To maintain living standards into old age we need roughly 20 times our annual income in financial wealth." That puts 49 percent of middle-class workers on track for poverty or near-poverty in retirement, a situation that, as detailed in the graphic, Paul Ryan would make worse.

Ryan would privatize Social Security:



Anyone who lived through 2008, and saw what the market crash did to your 401k or your home value, raise your hand if you thought to yourself, “Gee, if only my Social Security had been invested in the market, too.” Anyone?

That should be your answer to putting Paul Ryan in a position to affect your Social Security, your Medicare, your 401(k).