This is total nonsense, inaccurate garbage. And yet, people readily believe and continue to pass it around in February 2025. Seven years later and no smarter. What a sad state of affairs.
From a Facebook post by this person.
I’m too frustrated to critique this point by point, but I hope you see the absurdity.
KEEP PASSING THIS AROUND UNTIL
EVERY ONE HAS HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO READ IT…THE ONLY THING WRONG WITH THE
GOVERNMENT’S CALCULATION OF AVAILABLE SOCIAL SECURITY IS THEY FORGOT TO FIGURE IN THE PEOPLE WHO DIED BEFORE THEY EVER COLLECTED A SOCIAL SECURITY CHECK!!!WHERE DID THAT MONEY GO?
Remember, not only did you and I contribute to Social Security but your employer did, too. It totaled 15% of your income before taxes.
If you averaged only $30K over your working life, that’s close to$220,500.
Read that again.Did you see where the Government paid in one single penny?
We are talking about the money you and your employer put in a Government bank to ensure you and me that we would have a retirement check from the money we put in, not the Government.
Now they are calling the money we put in an entitlement when we reach the age to take it back.
If you calculate the future invested value of $4,500 per year (yours & your employer’s contribution) at a simple 5% interest (less than what the Government pays on the money that it borrows).
After 49 years of working you’d have $892,919.98.
If you took out only 3% per year, you’d receive $26,787.60 per year and it would last better than 30 years (until you’re 95 if you retire at age 65) and that’s with no interest paid on that final amount on deposit!
If you bought an annuity and it paid 4% per year, you’d have a lifetime income of $2,976.40 per month.
THE FOLKS IN WASHINGTON HAVE PULLED OFF A BIGGER PONZI SCHEME THAN BERNIE MADOFF EVER DID.
Entitlement my foot; I paid cash for my social security insurance!
Just because they borrowed the money for another government spending, doesn’t make my benefits some kind of charity or handout!!
Remember the benefits for members of Congress?
- free healthcare,
- outrageous retirement packages,
- 67 paid holidays,
- three weeks paid vacation,
- unlimited paid sick days.
Now that’s welfare, and they have the nerve to call my social security retirement payments entitlements?
They call Social Security and Medicare an entitlement even though most of us have been paying for it all our working lives, and now, when it’s time for us to collect, the government is running out of money.
Why did the government borrow from it in the first place? It was supposed to be in a locked box, not part of the general fund.
Sad isn’t it?
99% of people won’t have the guts to forward this.
I’m in the 1%
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
Al Lindquist
James is correct in that there is limited explanation of how the system works–plenty of books about it–there is one woman who has written extensively about SS and travels the investment circuit discussing the in and outs with financial advisors.
Sure there is all sorts of misinformation out there but on what topic is there not–our politicians spread misinformation daily–why do you think we are $35 trillion in the hole?
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Actually, it says to me that the Social Security Administration has done a poor job of explaining the program to the general public. Sure, they have a few handout pamphlets in their offices or used to have. I haven’t been in one in years. But the program is not described in easy to understand language in methods that reach people. Why not?
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I disagree the SS website does a good job AARP has good info. Of course, a person needs to exercise some effort.
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I was referring to the younger crowd that AARP doesn’t register with and the SSA site has all the info we need but it can be dry. The social media types you repost are of the sound bite generation, you’ve got no more than 2 minutes to get their attention. They need instruction in small doses.
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