It's my understanding that when Roosevelt approved this program, no one really expected that the population would live long enough to collect on the monies set aside for retirement. The few that did make it to the payoff, maybe collected a few checks and then dropped dead. Evidently, the life expectancy of the population was not as long as it is now.
The problem seems to be that the "Boomers" had the audacity to live long enough to collect these checks and even worse, expected to "enjoy" some form of retirement, actually planning to live out their days perhaps doing the things that they always wanted to do. Imagine that? You work all your life, try to save, maybe your house value rose and you saw that as an investment to be cashed in on at a later date. Maybe you even thought that the value of your home, could be the savings that you never seemed to be able to set aside.
With all those hopes and plans, unhinged, your children, mostly other peoples children blame you for fucking up the system, simply by being.
In that respect, choices were made, over the years by the "Boomers" that included these programs. Now, it seems that due to the huge amount of people retiring early and requesting benefits, there's a hot chance that Social Security will fold, bankrupt, cease to exist. Excuse me. And Medicare? That's a joke, it's not free. Did anyone think it was besides myself? If you want to see a doctor, you have to buy into part B which BTW, costs 110.00 off your SS check, and if you choose not to go bankrupt paying out the 20 percent that part B doesn't cover, you cough up another 170 bucks for supplemental and then there's that pharmaceutical plan that has a great big deductible before you get a break on drugs. If you don't take that one, you pay a penalty til you die, if you decide to get it at a later date. Medicare costs me more than my old health insurance policy.
This money that was systematically removed from my paycheck, from the time I began working, and continued to be removed through my adult life has been raided by the government, and used for other programs. So screw anyone who thinks for one second that I shouldn't have it. It sucks, but it's better than nothing. Raid some other program, like defense and stick it back into the SS bank. Simple.
It's too late people to change your minds about what the government should give us or not give us. That money belongs to the people who's checks were deducted and that would be the "Boomers" US. When this country is broke, and I mean penniless, we can talk about ending SS.