At age 35 I am at the bottom of this ponzi scheme
The kind of money - about 15% of gross salary - that comes out of the employer's hide when he decides to hire you is enough to fund a retirement on easy street if conservatively invested until age 65.l was revolted by the Social Security scam before you were born. I don't see the point of refusing the underpayment that they're paying me now, tho - and as you know the government bonds in which the "social security trust fund" is "invested" are not an asset to the government - and therefore are of no use to you in keeping my Social Security payments from causing inflation.
You're the same age as my children, and I have grandchildren - and I simply have never understood seniors who promote increases in benefits for seniors when it has to come out of the hides of their own children! You have to figure that the Social Security retirement age will get gradually raised to 70 or so. On the bright side, the limiting case of raising the retirement age for Social Security would be to eliminate the program altogether. Ditto for taxing SocSecurity benefits . . . which seems to be well over 50% taxable if you have investment income.
One small consolation: geezers with IRAs or 401(k)s pay income tax that was deferred - which won't cover the full freight of SocSecurity but isn't completely trivial in relation to it, either.
I remember when Bush tried pushing his SS savings account idea democrats all came out and said that these government bonds(government IOUs to itself) are solid because the government never defaults on bonds. This is an outright lie that government wont default on bonds to itself. Furthermore, courts have ruled that the payees are NOT entitled, that they can have benefits cut. Lastly, the government TAXES the benefits (a double tax.) So the government can pay back the phony bonds to itself to fund SS by taxing the SS benefits itself. What a scheme! It's like ethanol, every politician is in on it so no-one will explain why it doesn't work,. But dont worry, congressional pensions ARE safe and they can retire long before 65.