It’s pathetic how the government has handled this, isn’t it? The scenario you have described is exactly how our money SHOULD have been handled. Instead, the Social Security trust fund is now mostly full of I.O.U’s.....because of ridiculously stupid use of that money for “other” things.
This is precisely why WE should have the option to make our own decisions regarding the use of said monies.
If your (and my) Social Security contributions had instead been invested in Treasury bonds, they would have still been IOUs. But, the difference would be is that you and I would own those IOUs, instead of just a vague promise that they might cash them in for us later.