Someone please correct me if I’m wrong.
You are absolutely correct. There is no such thing as a "Social Security Fund". Like I said I used the analogy of picture Fort Knox, now picture that filled up with all the money for Social Security, that doesn't exist.
All of the money paid to Social Security recipients comes out of the General Treasury, it is no different than funding the military, paying government salaries, ect...
It is con groups like AARP that are trying to brainwash Seniors that there is some mythical Fort Knox filled with funds that are labeled "The Social Security Fund" all of which is only to be spent on Social Security. Complete con.
Think of a simple x / y graph. At a certain point the money going in towards social security by those working and money being paid out has hit the point where more money is paid out than coming into the Treasury. I don't know how to do graphics but I think this little explanation should sum it up for those not familiar with how Social Security works.
Social Security operated "in the black", continuously I believe, from its creation until recently. Otherwise it wouldn't have a $4 trillion "Trust Fund".
That does not mean it was not doomed to fail from the beginning.
Ida Mae Fuller, the first Social Security recipient, paid roughly $24 in FICA taxes from the beginning of the program until her retirement, and then collected roughly $22000 in benefits. A 100000% return on her investment. Ponzi schemes are generally good deals for those who get in early.
There is, in fact, a "Fort Knox" filled with funds that are labeled "The Social Security Fund" all of which is only to be spent on Social Security. It's somewhere in West Virginia.
The problem is that the trust fund has long been spent and for every bond the Social Security Administration redeems in order to pay Social Security benefits in excess of FICA revenue the Treasury Department must sell another bond of equal value.
As such, the Trust Fund is an accounting fiction and should be declared Null and Void, making Social Security a pay-as-you-go program, to be phased out completely over the next 40 years.