Anyone who understands how SS system is structured will tell you the same. It requires a lot of young people paying into it, to provide the cash to pay the older people collecting on it. It works if you have large pool of young people working, and the older people are dying off as expected. But if the elderly population lives longer than actuaries estimated, or if the number of young people in the work force is declines, the system is prone to fail.
Complicating matters is that the US gov't can't resist dipping into huge pools of money.
The rate of return on your social security dollars that people chipped in is awful. Had the public simply invested the money into an index fund, instead of the gov't taking it in the form of taxes to "invest" everyone would have been much better off.
@BizSuitStacy If it actually works that way irl one just needs to look at the working age population spread to understand the potential problem. However I believe the government is using the money in ways it was not originally Intended for exasperating the situation. I have reason to believe the government has been stupid enough to allow people to work the system and collect benefits they are not entitled to.
@BizSuitStacy Yup. That money is being deposited in accounts somewhere. It shouldn't take a rocket scientist, hey Elon, to figure that out. My payment is automated it sure as hell isn't difficult to trace from inside.
Had the public simply invested the money into an index fund, instead of the gov't taking it in the form of taxes to "invest" everyone would have been much better off.
That's pure BS.
As of December 2024, the average monthly Social Security retirement benefit was $1,925.66. That is $23,107.92 a year. So, for 15 years that is $346,618.80.
As of 2022, the average American family had a combined total of $62,410 in the bank. That is enough for about 32 months (at $1,925.66 per month withdrawal). So, what will you do after that?
