Updated: August 17, 2026 at 2:30 pm
By Brian Massie, A Watchman on the Wall
Social Security withholding from paychecks were mandatory for the worker and the employer way back in 1937. It is now approaching the cliff of insolvency thanks to lies, deceptions and betrayals of our federal government,
When I complained to a well connected patriot about our political parties, I was told that is just how our system works. You have to belong to either of the major parties or nothing will get done.
Houston….we have a problem!
This article was originally written on Nextdoor and sent to me by a Lake County patriot.
A woman dies at age 65 before collecting one benefit check. She and her employer paid into the system for almost 50 years and she collected NOTHING. Keep in mind all the working people that die every year who were paying into the system and got nothing.
And these governmental morons mismanaged the money and stole from the system, so that it’s now going broke. BEAUTIFUL! And they have the audacity to call today’s seniors “vultures” in an attempt to cover their ineptitude. DISGRACEFUL!
The real reason for renaming our Social Security payments is so the government can claim that all those social security recipients are receiving entitlements thus putting them in the same category as welfare, and food stamp recipients.
THIS IS WORTH THE FEW MINUTES IT TAKES TO READ AND DIGEST!
F.Y.I. By changing the name of SS contributions, it gives them a means to refute this program in the future. It’s free money for the government to spend under this guise. The Social Security check is now (or soon will be) referred to as a Federal Benefit Payment ?
I’ll be part of the one percent to forward this. I am forwarding it because it touches a nerve in me, and I hope it will in you.
Please keep passing it on until everyone in our country has read it.
The government is now referring to our Social Security checks as a “Federal Benefit Payment.” This is NOT a benefit. It is OUR money, paid out of our earned income! Not only did we all contribute to Social Security but our employers did too! It totaled 15% of our income before taxes. (This should be enough for you to forward this message, If not read on.)
If you averaged $30K per year over your working life, that’s close to $180,000 invested in Social Security. If you calculate the future value of your monthly investment in social security ($375/month, including both you and your employers contributions) at a meager 1% interest rate compounded monthly, after 40 years of working you’d have more than $1.3+ million dollars saved.
This is your personal investment. Upon retirement, if you took out only 3% per year, you’d receive $39,318 per year, or $3,277 per month.
That’s almost three times more than today’s average Social Security benefit of $1,230 per month, according to the Social Security Administration. (Google it – it’s a fact). And your retirement fund would last more than 33 years (until you’re 98 if you retire at age 65)!
I can only imagine how much better most average-income people could live in retirement if our government had just invested our money in low-risk interest-earning accounts. Instead, the folks in Washington pulled off a bigger Ponzi scheme than Bernie Madoff (or Lyndon Johnson) ever did! They took our money and used it elsewhere. They “forgot” (oh yes, they knew) that it was OUR money they were taking. They didn’t have a referendum to ask us if we wanted to lend the money to them…and they didn’t pay interest on the debt they assumed. And recently they’ve told us that the money won’t support us for very much longer. (Isn’t it funny that they NEVER say this about welfare payments?) But is it our fault they misused our investments? And now, to add insult to injury, they’re calling it a benefit, as if we never worked to earn every penny of it. This is stealing! Just because they borrowed the money, doesn’t mean that our investments were for charity!
Let’s take a stand. We have earned our right to Social Security and Medicare. Demand that our legislators bring some sense into our government. Find a way to keep Social Security and Medicare going for the sake of the 92% of our population who need it.
Then call it what it is: Our Earned Retirement Income.
Updated August 17, 2026
Hi Brian, I am writing as a friend to provide some additional insight.
This information is based on the current status of Social Security and Medicare, not a recommendation for any changes.
Today they are welfare programs designed to provide a safety net, funded by a tax to the worker and their employer. They are two different programs. Social Security provides retirement income, Medicare pays for healthcare expenses.
The issue today is that the systems are paying more in benefits than they are receiving in taxes.
We have more people living longer and have the additional expense of improved medical technology with the increasing cost to stay alive.
I will focus on Social Security.
Today it is a welfare program with a formula for benefits based upon the reported payment into the system. It is not a participant-specific savings plan. Eligible beneficiaries who have lower contributions receive a benefit that is proportionally higher than a higher income participant.
Here is an explanation of Social Security for me and my wife.
Social Security taxes are paid on a defined amount of income, the Social Security Wage Base, which is currently $184,400, meaning that for most people their full earned income is subject to Social Security taxes. People earning above this amount do not pay Social Security taxes on the excess. This has increased since I started working from $3400 in 1972 which was less than most peoples’ earned income at that time.
People can view the Social Security website and see their income and contribution history.
For my wife and I, we were covered under Social Security our entire working careers. We were near the top of the wage base, so our benefits as a percentage of our taxed income is at the low end of the scale. Our employers and we contributed a total of $390,000 in Social Security taxes. We began receiving benefits in 2016 (age 66) and have received about $450,000 in benefits through 2025. We are both healthy and will probably receive another $500,000 before we die, assuming age 84. To achieve the results we will achieve, we would have needed to earn around 5% per year during our entire lifetime and on the unpaid balance. So, less than the historical investment results, which are around 7%.
While there are people who will die and not receive what was paid, there are many who received significantly more than anticipated, such as my wife and my parents and current recipients who had lower incomes subject to tax. There are also disability benefits and survivor benefits that were never part of the original plan
I do not argue that there is waste in the system. We need to better define the benefits and plan for the increased life expectancy. People need to plan for this as well.
Anonymous Contributor
Categories: Community Activism, Contributors