Two main points: the type of taxes and the way the money is held by the government.
Firstly, a majority of the money going into Social Security is from payroll taxes. Meaning not everyone is paying into it. When politicians say they’re going to cut taxes they literally never mean the average working voter’s income taxes. It’s always some other tax, almost always cutting this tax specifically in addition to whatever else they are cutting; with the last republican president proposing the *total elimination of this tax* ***entirely***. The total elimination of the program’s main means of funding.
Secondly, the money isn’t held in a bank, or any kind of escrow, for you. It’s not *your money*. It’s (two) general fund(s) that goes into bonds that the government has to repay. The government even pays interest on these bonds *because they are a loan from the fund.* What this means is the taxes collected go into a general fund that the government operates on. By promising businesses the above tax cuts they are effectively, but not directly, taking the money out of the fund and removing a way to replenish it.
Add to that the fact that the US has progressively priced out the idea of creating and raising a family for many Americans, resulting in very low working-age population replenishment now and in the potential future, means the funding for social security is being attacked on two fronts: less taxes going to the fund from a smaller number of people earning that taxable income.
That’s before changing the amount of money people are entitled to or the age at which they become entitled to it.
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