You can’t just give folks their cash back either... as most will withdraw far far more than they ever put in.... even with interest.. over the course of their lives.
Yes its s ponzi scheme, but it was never intended to ever really pay out other than to those whos husbands or fathers died....
Life expectancy grew, age to claim stayed stagnant, now folks are living 20 or more years taking out far more than they put in.
But you can’t just cash it all out and say We’re done.. unless you want millions of elderly homeless and even more destitute.
Just to be clear, I had our Finance guy run the numbers to see how much we would have if all that Money taken from us(and our Employers, which is really just part of our Compensation, but I digress) was Invested in the Market for the past 45-50 Years.
He never had anyone ask him to do that, and he was a Finance Guy for over 30 Years. He is pretty conservative with his Client’s money.
The result, he figured my Wife and I would have about Four Million Dollars at age 66, give or take. The miracle of straight line Investing.
Nothing but a friggin Ponzi scheme.