NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – As the polarized and contentious debate over Social Security gets underway, a new poll shows Americans are divided on the issue of partially privatizing the system.

A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll found that 82 percent of Americans say Social Security is a high priority for lawmakers to address in the next year. They ranked the issue sixth, behind Iraq (90 percent), terrorism (87 percent), the economy (86 percent) and education (86 percent).

But when it comes to letting workers invest a portion of their Social Security taxes in personal accounts, 48 percent said they're in favor and another 48 percent said they're opposed.

Within that general divide, age and income proved to be influential factors.

Fifty-seven percent of Americans under 50 said they favored the idea, compared to just 37 percent of older Americans.

Meanwhile, the higher a respondent's household income, the more likely he is to favor the idea. Sixty percent of those with incomes of $75,000 or more said they like the idea of partially privatizing the system, while 51 percent of those with incomes of between $30,000 and $74,999 said they favored it, and only 34 percent of those making less than $30,000 think privatizing is desirable.

Overall, 43 percent of respondents said the introduction of personal accounts would have no effect on them; 29 percent thought it would help them; and 26 percent thought it would hurt them.

Among all age groups, those between the ages of 40 and 64 had the highest percentage of respondents (48 percent) who said they believe personal accounts would be harmful to them.

The higher their income, the more likely respondents were to expect that personal accounts would benefit them personally.

President Bush is heavily promoting personal accounts. Many Democrats and liberal economists oppose such a change, arguing that the Social Security system is not in crisis and requires only minor fixes.

When asked about the economic effects of partially privatizing Social Security, 49 percent said they believe the federal budget deficit would increase, while 43 percent said it would not.

The transition costs of incorporating personal accounts into Social Security are estimated to be between $1 trillion and $2 trillion. The White House has indicated the government may borrow that money to finance the transition. That would increase the deficit.

Respondents were similarly divided on the effects privatization would have on current benefits.

Forty-six percent say they believe partially privatizing the system would reduce benefits to current Social Security recipients, while 48 percent said it would not.

The president has said that any changes to the system should not change the benefits of current or near retirees.

Meanwhile, 58 percent think benefits for future recipients would be reduced by partially privatizing the system. Thirty-six percent, meanwhile, didn't think so.

An analysis by the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office of the leading privatization proposal shows future benefits would be reduced, but a big part of that reduction is due to the part of the plan that calls for a change in the way initial benefits are calculated. (For more on this, click here.)

The survey of 1,002 adults was conducted by phone between Dec. 17 and Dec. 19, 2004.