[Captain Peter Blood]

The fallacy is that no one paid in anything for anything.
People never seem to understand that what they are paying is for those already getting those Social Programs.

The danger for the baby boomers and beyond is not enough people working to support those getting benefits.

I am almost 60 and have been reading the pro and con arguments over when to take SS, at 62 or later.

Given the Demographics, Budget problems, and the state of the Social Welfare programs financially, it might make sense to take it at 62 and get all you can before the implosion.

[Zhang Fei]

The fallacy is that no one paid in anything for anything. People never seem to understand that what they are paying is for those already getting those Social Programs.

People believe that they traded 15%* of their incomes over decades for a promise by the federal government to pay them certain sums of money at retirement, no different from any pension plan. That elements of the GOP want to renege on this promise is not just politically retarded, it is an injustice for which the party will pay at the polls if it follows through. Paul Ryan, the political autist who dreamed up a misconceived scheme to cut SS and Medicare that strikes at retirement incomes for core middle income GOP voters (sub-$50K), has deservedly had his presidential hopes deep-sixed.

* 15% is more than many people (sub-$50K income) pay in Federal income taxes as a % of total income, so this isn't a trivial amount.