How is social security in the US at risk of running out of funding, if every tax payer pays into it?
In: 1004
The ELI5 answer:
When social security was set up, the average life expectancy was 65, about the same as retirement age.
Today, retirement age is 65 or 68, and the average life expectancy is about 85.
Benefits are lifelong, even after someone exceeds what they paid in.
(Of course, average life expectancy is a bit misleading, as most increases have come from reducing infant mortality. But it’s still a useful number.)
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