"The U.S. debt is more than $17.6 trillion. Most headlines focus on how much the U.S. owes China, which is the largest foreign owner. However, the biggest owner is actually the Social Security Trust Fund, aka your retirement money. How does that work, and what does it mean?"
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"....nearly half of the U.S. Treasury debt is held in trust for people's retirements. If the U.S. default on its debt, foreign investors would be angry, but the greatest harm would befall the average U.S. citizen."...
In theory, what you and I do own is the Social Security and Medicare obligations we've earned in our retirement years from our work history.
In reality though, they're not even true obligations, as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled decades ago that they can be changed, reduced, or taken away completely by an act of law duly passed by Congress and signed by the president at any time. So they only remain obligations as long as the government says they do.