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PARKER: Time for America to leave Social Security plantation 

It's not yours, even though you paid for it

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To repeat what Americans have heard a lot recently, our Social Security system is in very bad shape.

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Per the most recent report from the Social Security and Medicare Board of Trustees, Social Security is capable of paying out the full amount of promised benefits through 2033. After that, the only option is to pay out 77% of the promised benefits.

PARKER: Time for America to leave Social Security plantation  Back to video

That’s seven years from now.

Anyone who got a letter from their investment fund or insurance program that said, “We’re sorry, but in another seven years we won’t be able to pay out what was promised” would immediately be on the phone to their lawyer.

Why does this very bad news about Social Security not seem to trouble Americans?

One reason is that we have no control. It’s not yours, even though you paid for it.

You would immediately be on the phone with your agent or your lawyer if your insurance company declared bankruptcy because it’s yours. You own it.

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Have you ever called Social Security or the Internal Revenue Service to ask a question? You will sit on the phone for hours, and in the end, most likely you won’t connect. Try it and you will understand what hopeless means.

On Aug. 14, 2010, President Barack Obama addressed the nation to note the 75th anniversary of the signing of Social Security into law.

It was already clear then that the system was shaky. But Obama assured the nation he will “safeguard” Social Security’s “promise to America’s seniors.”

He assured Americans that he would never allow a reform enabling Americans to take ownership of their funds, “tying your benefits to the whims of Wall Street traders and the ups and downs of the stock market.”

When Obama made that statement in 2010, the S&P 500 stock index stood at 1079. Today, it stands at 6506.

The average return of the S&P 500 from 1957 through December 2025 was 11.5% per year.

From November 2007 to January 2009, the stock market, measured by the S&P, dropped over 46%. This was the biggest decline since the 1929 crash.

Two Cato Institute analysts checked what would have happened to a couple who invested what they would have paid in Social Security taxes over a 45-year working life and then retired right after the huge market decline in 2009.

The answer was that even after the crash, they would have earned an average of 6.75% per year and would have had a sufficient accumulation to payout 75% more than they would have gotten from Social Security.

Needless to say, if they had retired before the crash, they would have had much more. But even so, the magic of compound interest over 40-plus years well overcomes a short-term disaster.

Stock returns reflect the earnings of corporations, and the earnings of corporations reflect the growth of the U.S. economy.

Let’s use some simple logic here. Anyone negative about the long-term returns on stocks is negative about the long-term growth of the U.S. economy. And anyone negative about the long-term growth of the U.S. economy should understand that there will be few economic resources for the government to tax.

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Take a bad deal, make it worse

What we keep hearing from politicians is about “saving Social Security.” I’m not interested in saving systems. I am interested in saving people.

The only way the existing Social Security system can be “saved” is by taking a bad deal and making it worse. Raising taxes or cutting benefits. Or, for sure, what we can expect from the progressives is to turn the system into another welfare program by disproportionately raising taxes on higher-income earners.

The country is ready for a major overhaul that will free Americans from the government plantation and allow them to reap the benefits of freedom and ownership.

Star Parker is founder of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education 

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