It was never an investment program. It was a program where they took your money and then paid it out as “benefits” to those retired. As long as it wax collecting significantly more money than was paid out, it sort of worked. (Just like a Pnzi Scheme sort of works!) Another, thing that kept it sort of working was life expectancy and demographics. The system was built on the expectation that life expectancy would change little. It did! The system was also built on the assumption that worker demographics wo7ld change little. It did! Another flaw in the system, you can take out way way more money than you put in. Look up on Wikipedia or even the SSA website Ida May Fuller. Her total SS contribution from her working career was something like $24.00. When she retired, she collected something like $22,000 total in benefits from SSA. There have been tens if not hundreds of thousands of Ida May Fullers. Congress and past administrations have punched more holes in the SS bucket with borrowing from it, allowing people in who paid little to nothing in. People keep telling me illegals are now draining their take from it. Also you have NO OWNERSHIP RIGHTS TO THE MONEY YOU PAID IN! If you did you could count it in your assets and pass it to your heirs. You can’t! It’s a tax like any other tax. You don’t own the tax money you paid to the IRS! There have been several federal & USSC court decisions stating that!
It’s not as if the USG has lied to you about this. It’s public knowledge. It’s on the SSA website but it takes some digging. It is politician’s (mostly Rat!) best interest that you remain misinformed about SS. At some point this financial grenade will go off.
As I said earlier, and I’ll say it again to you:
I’m at the 3/4 century mark...I have worked since I was 16 years old...I am a Vietnam Veteran...I served my country honorably and with love...I worked while I went to college...
I have paid into SS Medicare ALL those years...
I have EARNED my payback of SS and Medicare...
Your information on Ms Fuller should’ve shown that SS withdrawals didn’t even begin until 2 years before her retirement and she lived to be 100 years old...
What do you have to say about people who have worked and paid into SS for 50-60 years??? In your opinion, do they DESERVE to get payments back from what they have paid in????