Your point is arguable. Unemployment insurance payments are also taxable. I’d happily exchange my SS account for a private annuity fund worth half as much as current promised SS payment, since even Rep. Ryan wants to means test Social Security, - of course, only for people much younger than me, but he doesn’t get to pick and choose and once the liberals get the redistribution bit in their mouth, all bets are off.
Social Security is not heritable.
Remember to compute that into the model where you compare payoffs versus costs.