[silverleaf]

“Many Americans see Social Security as a savings plan, albeit a coerced one....”

well, D’UH

[kabar]

Savings plan? Your contributions don't belong to you (Fleming v. Nestor). You could pay into SS all of your life and not receive a dime nor would your estate depending on whether you were married and when you died.

[Louis Foxwell]

In point of fact SS is not a savings program. The only way to maintain that position is to insist that the officers are imprisoned for malfeasance and establishing a PONZI scheme.
The solution is a simple one. All shall have established a personal account with the actual money invested plus an appropriate interest rate, compounded. All participants shall be allowed to transfer their investment into a private portfolio with the same conditions as any retirement account.
Because the account will have face value up to the point of disbursement via annuity payout with lifetime guarantee, minor surviving children will have an account with face value, heirs will have survivor benefits, and insurance will provide disability benefits. In short, the entire program can be privatized with a net benefit to the gov given the fact that the ponzi scheme is now bankrupt.