When I say abolished it’s not a right now type of thing except welfare. You need to wean folks off.
SS could have worked if implemented and run by competent people vice the government. Hell it’s a 100% return on investment, you pay 6.2%, employer matches 6.2% and when you decide to retire the government should hand you a tax free check in the total amount. Do what you want with it but when it’s gone you’re on your own.
You’re right; SS could have worked had it been implemented and run by competent people. The problem is that it was implemented by and is being run by the government, which does not enjoy a stellar track record of competency.
And I fully agree with you that there should NOT be and never should have been an annuity-style system. It should have been set up to pay the retiring employee, in a lump sum, what the employee and the employer paid into it.
The way it WAS set up, and was and is administered, is a recipe for disaster.