Duh.
With any retirement-savings plan; you're supposed to get back more than you paid in. It's simple arithmetic.
You let your payments be distributed immediately to your parents...
We "Let" that happen? Like we had a choice? As if it was our idea? Are you nuts?
Apparently you are unaware that Social Security wasn't sold to us as the Ponzi scheme that it really is. We were told that our "contributions" were to earn interest, like any retirement fund. We know now that there was no "trust fund" earning interest. So that was a lie. But it wasn't our lie. We were the ones who were lied to.
For most of us Middle-Class Boomers, our return-on-investment from Social Security is less than 2%. Less than what Passbook-Savings-Account interest averaged over the past 50 years.
It isn't a freebie. It's a scam. And the scam is on those of us who paid into it for decades; and who now receive somewhere between one-half and one-fourth of what we would be receiving if our money had gone into average interest-bearing retirement accounts.
But don't worry; when you reach retirement age, I'm sure your grandchildren's generation will be more than happy to pay for your retirement.
We know now that there was no "trust fund" earning interest.
Lockbox!
-PJ