he gets $4k/month because he was forced at gun point to pay in to the system a lot more than that
Well he played the game and it worked out quite well for him. Some people are more clever than others. Are we just gonna write off the less clever elderly and allow them to slip through the cracks financially and perhaps become homeless? $4k a month is nothing to these wealthier people and they can easily absorb such a minor hit to their finances.
AND, be VERY careful of word usage. Your uncle is ENTITLED to recieve his SS check. It is based upon (roughly) upon what he cotributed over a lifetime. That was the original social contract FDR et al guaranteed when they pushed through SS. Likewise, Veteran’s benefits were earned and they are entitled to them.
BUT, Medicaid, SNAP checks, Child tax credits, Obamacare payments, and midnight basketball programs are all grouped by democrats under the umbrella of so-called “entitlements” that can’t be touched. Ths is wrong usage of a word and bad policy. It’s intentionallly misleading.
It is true that he was forced to pay into the system, but it is a little hard to say exactly how much his contributions actually were and how much he would have left if he had been allowed to avoid paying into the system.
The maximum amount of contributions that a wage earner currently collecting social security benefits could have paid into the system is $107,509.24. At $4000 a month this would be paid back in approximately 27 months not including interest.
If the same contributions were put in a savings account during the same time period, the $107,509.24 would have grown to approximately $260,435. That would provide $4000 a month for approximately 65 months or 5 and 1/2 years. Of course, social security has automatic cost of living increases which would shorten that time period. Grok found the historic savings rates and did all the calculations.
https://grok.com/share/c2hhcmQtMg%3D%3D_7ed74815-ee64-4d7c-baba-ceadbdcf1f7e