Conservatives like to talk as if the money you pay into Social Security is an investment that pays off when you get older. This represents a fundamental misunderstanding about the nature of SS. Frankly, SS cannot be an investment because you're giving money to people who aren't very likely to make a lot of money in the future. It makes more sense to view SS as a payoff of an investment that the retired folks made in the younger generations. It's really quite simple when you think about it: SS is the payoff we get for improving the economy when we're young enough to do so. The investments are too many to count, but they include: education, roads, training, etc.
Now we just need to help others realize this. Especially in light of the fact that the prediction that SS is in trouble is based on a gloomy, aka conservative, economic outlook.