Then SS would become nothing but another welfare program. Why should my wife and I who paid into it be denied because we have saved for retirement?
“Then SS would become nothing but another welfare program. Why should my wife and I who paid into it be denied because we have saved for retirement?”
It is just another welfare program. It’s another type of revenue stream into the government that the government reserves the right to use the way they see fit. Do you get monthly statements about how much money there is in your personal social security retirement fund, also showing how much your money has grown from investment (like a 401K)? Do you have the ability to chose how ‘your money’ is invested within your government held social security retirement account? Of course not, because there is no ‘account’ with you name on it in which your contributions are being kept and invested.
Consider this. You and your wife BOTH worked and paid into social security. If, God forbid, you or your spouse should die right after retirement the remaining spouse would only receive the social security benefit of one of you - not both. If you had been allowed to elect not to pay into social security, and invest that money, the investments of both of you would be available to the remaining spouse. As it stands it is not your money. It’s the government’s money, and you will only get back what the government allows you to get back.