]Dyehard, it has been PROVEN that the pathetic Social Security program is a rip-off. How was it PROVEN? Back in the late '70s and early '80s, municipalities and other governments were given the option of creating their own alternate plans and opting out of Social Security.
Galveston, Texas chose to opt out. The result?
Workers making $17,000 a year are expected to receive about 50 percent more per month on our alternative plan than on Social Security — $1,036 instead of $683. [See the Figure.]
Workers making $26,000 a year will make almost double Social Security’s return — $1,500 instead of $853.
Workers making $51,000 a year will get $3,103 instead of $1,368.
Workers making $75,000 or more will nearly triple Social Security — $4,540 instead of $1,645.
Galveston County’s survivorship benefits pay four times a worker's annual salary — a minimum of $75,000 to a maximum $215,000 — versus Social Security, which forces widows to wait until age 60 to qualify for benefits, or provides 75 percent of a worker’s salary for school-age children.
In Galveston, if the worker dies before retirement, the survivors receive not only the full survivorship but get generous accidental death benefits, too. Galveston County’s disability benefit also pays more: 60 percent of an individual's salary, better than Social Security's.
http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba/ba514/images/figure1.gif
Source: National Center for Policy Analysis
Don't get all huffy with me when I am just stating demonstrable FACTS. Oh, and yeah - my own personal retirement plan will vastly outperform the legalized theft of Social Security, given that my return with SS would be less than 1% per year while I earn an average return of between 6% and 10%. What that all adds up to is that the government is using that return to pad federal coffers (by reducing its debt load by placing the SS revenues in the general fund). Nevermind that SS
KEEPS ALL YOUR MONEY if you die before retirement, while my fund that of the Galveston employees passes to heirs.