Social security is a “Ponzi” scheme. It has been operating on surplus capital due to the population of the “baby boomers” and an increase in the amount of withholding taxes a few years ago. You might also be interested in knowing that the assets are “pooled” meaning that they are not set aside and that your government has been spending them on things other than retirement. A Ponzi scheme is only legal when the government engages in them, they frown on anyone else trying it. The government doesn’t like competition. This obligation is yours, it was imposed on you.
This Ponzi scheme operates very simply. Current retirees are being paid with the funds from folks still working and paying into the system. Since the “baby boomers” are the most populous generation, subsequent and younger generations aren’t going to be able to afford the burden. Outgoing cash and demand is simply going to dwarf the incoming flows. You see it doesn’t matter whether you want the government to raise the retirement age or not, it simply has to happen despite what you want. It’s not your fault. Your money was taken from you and spent by a bunch of lunatics masquerading as responsible caretakers. So just get the idea out of your head that there is some sort of miracle cure. Unless of course, you find any of the other options palatable. Those options would include raising the tax burden on younger generations to nearly double what it is now, reduce your social security allotment by nearly a third, or perhaps having the country take on the additional excess debt. Our debt level right now is approaching ten trillion and adding any additional debt will completely bury future generations. The harsh reality is that our excesses are finally catching up. Government spending is out of control and has been for quite some time. In order to save social security, the government will embark on a combination of raising taxes, raise the retirement age, and take on additional debt. This will happen soon in some combination. To use only one option exclusively will cause too much financial pain on one segment of our society. We will suffer the consequences together. That’s how it works.
You see, you simply can’t go wage wars and spend what savings you have imposing your will on others and wasting time, energy, and money on tribal warfare. Or send your money overseas via trade imbalances enabled by “free trade” agreements. You have a finite amount of dollars. In the end you can either use those dollars wisely or not. Our government has wasted money on things it could ill afford. The government and Mr. Roosevelt created this ponzi scheme called social security. It was well intentioned but was irresponsibly handled and now it is a mess. One way or the other you are going to pay for it.