Social Security has collected a surplus for decades, what happened to all that money?

Question

Can't the extra money contributed carry us through times when there is a deficit?

Answer 1

Look up SSI and learn. You apparently know nothing about the subject.

Answer 2

Congress has borrowed and Presidents have spent it. It exists as bonds that come due when payment of benefits come due.

Social Security isn't really a "tax" but rather a retirement insurance to help supplement your own arrangements, you get back every cent you have ever payed into it after the first five years but you collect it for the rest of your life. But it is a supplement, not a retirement plan. It works like insurance in that not everyone who has payed into the system lives to collect (and as the life expectancy rises so does the retirement age) so that between the interest on the bonds and the attrition rate of survivors it floats. The insolvency issue is a false issue, reducing the COLA by 1% would save the program.

But essentially the money is collected and is then converted into federal bonds which collect a fixed interest independent of the market, so if the market crashes when you retire, you still get your full benefits but that means that if the market is booming when you retire you still collect at the same rate.....considering that the boomers are retiring and retirees vote at the highest rates SS is safe.

SS right now has a $2.4 trillion surplus that the congress owes in the form of bonds.

Answer 3

Actually there was a surplus once, but that was only at the very beginning of the program before people reached the years where they could use it. And of course at that time the politicians saw the money and couldn't resist spending it and set about using the money for all kinds of things it wasn't first intended for like deaf benefits or anything else that suited their fancy, and that continues to today they keep extended the benefits, but due to the baby boom now not only due we have all these things that Social Security is to fund the number of people to fund it in comparison to the people that receive it is going down, and is becoming more and more a burden to the current and future tax payers. So even if they used it as a "retirement fund", which they don't, it would be harder and harder to fund when you get numbers like 1 retired person to 2-3 working people.

Answer 4

All extra Social Security money since the 1980's has been used to hide the true Federal Deficit each year.
It started in 1981 under Reagan to cover up his tax cuts.
The deficit for next year is "officially" $250 billion (more or less) in reality because of the robbing of SS money it should be closer to $1 trillion.
What they have done is spent the SS money by purchasing savings bonds with it (it has been called "investing it") and covering up the political theft for 20 of the last 26 years. Only under Clinton did any of the money get returned to Social Security (about $2 trillion of it.)
Nearly $11 trillion is currently owed by the federal government to SS. Good luck getting a politician to admit to this.

Answer 5

A lot of people think because they are taxed FICA that this is for that purpose. But the rhetoric in Washington calls this simply income. Rich people do not have to pay after 80K something Social Security stops coming out of our checks. So when you hear people say we have to cut back on entitlements in Washing they are talking about what you already paid for. Too bad ha. Remember that guy who was talking about lock-boxes? You should have voted for him.

As a % of GDP during 2000
* Italy 13%
* France 12%
* Germany 12%
* Sweden 9%
* Japan 8%
* USA 5%
* South Korea 2%
* Hong Kong 2%

Answer 6

They figure for that in the forecasts, the date they usually give is when the surplus is gone. Did you notice how they're not really talking about Social Security much anymore, I think it's because there was a spike in the birth rate which pushed the bankruptcy date back significantly.

Answer 7

Social Security is a complete and total SCAM. I would much rather see the US government give me and millions of other Americans our $4500 back that we pay each year (assuming you make over $86,400 a year) and instead send instruction pamflets on how Americans can open up their own savings and retirment accounts at their local banks! NOWHERE in the United States Constitution does it say that it's the responsibility of the government to tax it's citizens in order to pay for everybody's retirement.

Answer 8

They use the money and rely on the currently working peoples social security to take care of the retirees that are currently collecting. There is no surplus never has been never will be.

Answer 9

There isn't any money left and those of us paying now will not receive benefits in the future. Yet the left wants these same people to be in charge of their health care.

Answer 10

Where do you get the idea of a surplus? There has never been a surplus. Not one that amounts to a whole lot anyways. And what there is gets shifted around, but it's always there if needed.