Disturbing Facts About Social Security

Brenton Smith his one of the most prolific writers on Social Security over at Quora.  Brenton has answered over 1000 questions from the public about Social Security (for comparison, The Seniors Center President Dan Perrin has answered thirteen).  I noticed that Dan endorsed Brenton’s most recent answer and once I saw it, I wanted to share it with you:

The question on Quora: What are the most disturbing facts about Social Security and welfare states?

Brenton’s answer:

Here is a fact : for every $1 the Social Security has ever collected, it has created roughly $2 of promises that no one expects it to keep. That is a breath-taking statement of brokenness.

Fact 2: roughly a 1/3rd of our retirees get 90% of their income from this system

Fact 3: dependence rises with age. By the time you are 85, about 1/2 of retirees are getting 90% of their income from SS

Fact 4: people turning 71 today expect on average to be alive in 2034

Fact 5: the passage of time is the most destructive force in the Social Security system. In the 6 seconds that it takes to read this answer, the program will create about $100,000 in broken promises – more if you add time to share the fact.

Click these links for:

Brenton Smith’s answers to Social Security questions on Quora

The Seniors Center President Dan Perrin’s answers to Social Security questions on Quora