If Nominated . . . If Elected . . .

Presidential influence on the economy and the markets is weaker than they would have you believe, but especially during a new President’s first-year honeymoon, legislation and the bully pulpit can have an effect. So how would the remaining major candidates for the office address the looming issues that will affect retirement planning?

Sen. Hillary Clinton opposes Social Security privatization. She would mandate health insurance for all, subsidized by employers and the government, and pay for it by eliminating Bush Administration tax cuts for households earning over $250,000. Clinton supports reducing the estate tax but not eliminating it.

Clinton’s main rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Barack Obama, also opposes privatization of Social Security. He advocates a plan that would automatically enroll workers in a workplace pension plan, and employers who do not currently offer a retirement plan would be required to enroll their employees in a direct-deposit IRA account. Obama also is in favor of universal health coverage. He has voted against raising the estate tax exemption to $5 million, and against permanently repealing the estate tax.