SS was never a pension plan. And your contributions do not belong to you. They belong to the USG, which can decide what benefits will be provided.
SS is a Ponzi scheme. SS is a pay as you go system, i.e., today's workers pay for today's retirees. In 1950 there were 16 workers for every retiree; today there are three; and by 2030 there will be two. We either decrease benefits or raise contributions or some combination thereof to ensure full benefits are paid. SS has been running in the red since 2010. The last time that happened was in the early 1980s, which prompted Reagan and Tip O'Neil to strike a Faustian bargain to save the system for the next 75 years. One change was to raise the age for full benefits from 65 to 67. Another was to force all new federal hires to pay into SS.
Federal abuses and malfeasance to the SS funds over the past decades have perverted a reasonable annuity plan. If SS had been privatized it would have been successful.
What federal abuses are you referring to?
***SS was never a pension plan.***
I used quotes for ‘pension’ - but that was the public’s perception.
***What federal abuses are you referring to?***
Reviewing articles like this:
http://www.fedsmith.com/2013/05/23/government-owes-2-7-trillion-to-social-security/
“The government has embezzled all surplus Social Security revenue, generated by the 1983 payroll tax hike, and spent the money on wars and other government programs. None of the money was saved or invested in anything.”