Washington ? President Bush on Tuesday said he was determined to overcome political obstacles to transform Social Security and wanted to assure older Americans his plans would not pinch their benefits.

“One of the problems of getting anything done with Social Security is to overcome this fear of people who receive Social Security checks. I fully understand that,” Bush said during an interview in the Oval Office.

“If you are a senior and retired or were born before 1950, nothing will change. No matter what people say, no matter what the spinners try to convey, nothing changes.”

The president made his case for adding individual investment ac-counts to Social Security during an hourlong session with reporters from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and five other newspapers, most in communities with large numbers of senior citizens.

These accounts would help individuals compensate for potential benefit reductions in the future, he said, and would give all classes a chance to build wealth that can be passed along to heirs.

“Personal accounts in themselves do not solve the (financing) problem,” he acknowledged.

Bush said the current system could not be sustained, and he implied that benefits in the traditional program would have to be scaled back for those born after 1950.

Current projections indicate that benefits will exceed tax revenue by 2018 and that Social Security would not be able to pay full benefits by 2042.

Under Bush’s plan, workers would be able to divert nearly two-thirds — 4 percent — of the payroll taxes now paid into the Social Security trust fund and put them instead into personal accounts. Investment choices would be limited and carefully regulated to reduce risk.

The interview was part of the president’s campaign to allay concerns among older Americans while generating enthusiasm among younger ones.