Forty-nine percent (49%) of U.S. voters say working Americans should be allowed to opt out of Social Security and provide for their own retirement planning.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 37% disagree and do not believe Americans should be able to opt out of Social Security. Fifteen percent (15%) are not sure.

A majority of voters under 50 say workers should be allowed to opt out. A plurality of those over 50 disagree.

One of President Obama’s top economic advisers signaled this week that the president will try to reform Social Security before the end of his first term. Voters are also closely divided on whether this is a good idea despite news that the system may be closer to running out of money than previously reported.

Thirty-six percent (36%) say reforming Social Security should be one of Obama’s top priorities, but 41% don’t share that view. Twenty-three percent (23%) are undecided.

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Sixty percent (60%) of voters are not confident that the Social Security system will pay them all promised benefits during their lifetime, with 36% not very confident and 24% not at all confident. Thirty-eight percent (38%) express confidence in Social Security, including 13% who are very confident and 25% who are somewhat confident in the system.

This marks a drop in confidence in Social Security since August of last year. Sixty-two percent (62%) at that time agreed with candidate Obama’s plan to make Americans pay Social Security taxes on most or all of their incomes. Now they are taxed only on annual income up to $102,000.

Beyond making all income taxable, however, the tax option does not appear politically attractive. Voters by a two-to-one margin – 54% to 27% - don’t believe Social Security taxes should be increased to insure that all promised benefits are paid. Twenty percent (20%) are not sure which course is best.

Voters are fairly closely divided over whether Social Security is a good deal for working Americans, findings that have been largely the same in all recent surveys on the topic. A plurality (47%) say Social Security is a good deal, but 38% disagree. Fifteen percent (15%) are not sure.

A majority of voters over 50 say Social Security is a good deal for workers. A plurality of younger voters take the opposite view.

Sixty-two percent (62%) of Republicans like the idea of letting workers opt out, as do 54% of voters not affiliated with either major party. But just 33% of Democrats agree. Nearly half (48%) of Democratic voters are opposed to letting workers opt out of Social Security.

Voters rate cutting the federal deficit in half by the end of his first term as the most important of four priorities the president listed in February.

In terms of voter trust, Republicans lead Democrats on the issue of Social Security for the second straight month, this time by a 43% to 39% margin. Social Security is an issue where Democrats have enjoyed consistent leads in recent years.

Just after last November’s election, voters were evenly divided on opting out, but support has been growing since then.

Fifty-two percent (52%) of voters supported President George W. Bush’s proposal to allow workers to invest a portion of their Social Security taxes in personal retirement accounts when he announced his intention to pursue the idea in November 2004. However, while there was initial support for the concept, opposition grew rapidly over concerns that it might have a negative impact on senior citizens.

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