[Gaffer]

Roughly anyone who lives 7 years (maybe less!) past the age of retirement is a net drain on the system.

Roughly? Very roughly. I've paid the maximum into SS for as long as I can remember. Last count I got from SS was that my employer and I paid in over $200K. You think I'd get that back in 7 years?

[Reily]

The 7 years figure I saw in a libertarian pub during the Carter years, I am sure it’s an average which may be based also on the rate of inflation (which was bad during then!) subtracting value from the money taken. I made an assumption that it might be less then 7 years now because these kind of things never get better!

Do you deny the statement that social security money taken would be better off privately invested and you would be better off financially then the the present system?

[kabar]

It depends on when you retire. SS is a Ponzi scheme. Those at the bottom of the pyramid, i.e., younger workers, are the ones who get screwed while those of us at the top get back far more than we payed into the system.

Why Social Security is a Ponzi Scheme

[Go_Raiders]

Median benefit $30,000 per year

Times

7 years

Equals

$210,000

Yes Gaffer, it is likely you will have gotten everything back in seven years. And don’t start talking about interest, because the money was never invested.

I had enough good fortune and foresight to arrange my finances so that I won’t need Social Security when I turn 67. I plan on funding prepaid life insurance (which pays dividends and can be borrowed against tax free) for my grandchildren using my SS benefits as a way of helping them avoid reliance on SS in their golden years and giving them at least some benefit out of all the taxes they will be paying to support our generation.