Actually the life expectancy in 1938 was 58 for white men, and 52 for black men. 62 for women
To keep the ratio correct from 1938, you would have to raise the retirement age to 81 years.
Part of what needs to be done, is that all non investment income should be subject to the tax. Anyone who earns less than the cutoff of $106K pays on every dime. Neither my wife nor I make to the cutoff, and so $180K (combined) is taxed at the full rate. Yet a single earner stops paying at $106. If that single earner had a non-working wife, the benefits would be the same to her.
That guy in 1938 put very little into the system and began getting SS when eligible for a couple years.....2010 people pay in for 40 years plus and now add another five years and they DEFiNITELY do not get near what they put into the system.