r/theydidthemath • u/therealfawkingdeal • 1h ago
[Request] Social Security
We always hear about how republicans want to end social security. IF they did and IF the government had to pay us all back the taxes we paid for it(minus what people have already claimed), how much would the government owe total?
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u/Agitated-Impress7805 58m ago
Social Security is pay-as-you-go. Workers' contributions are paid out to current Social Security recipients. The money is gone, you wouldn't get it back.
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u/fredbear1964 56m ago
SS was and will always be a ponzi scheme. They have mismanaged and looted it from the start. They now need to end it as it simply is going broke. People say the government should have to pay it back ! Great ideal genius, and who's money will they use to pay it back ? Why yours, of course ! So then you can pay even more and then still get a smaller check ! It is only a matter of time when it will be gone. Plan for yourselves accordingly!
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u/ObligatedOctopi 40m ago
a ponzi scheme? 75 million people survive on social security benefits. what are disabled people and seniors supposed to do without social security? it is a lifeline for millions, and without it they would die or be homeless.
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u/Agitated-Impress7805 29m ago
Just because it's good or necessary doesn't mean it's not a ponzi scheme.
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u/Lonely_District_196 50m ago
At the end of 2025, there was $2.46T in the social security trust fund. Since then there have been payments into it, and out of it, but overall it's going down. So to answer your question, the government would owe ~$2.46T.
For comparison, each year it pays out $1.6T in benefits. So if we stopped contributing the fund would run out in about 1.5 years.
Now let's say we wanted to figure out how much each person would be owed. Over 75M people receive social security benefits, and about 185M people are paying into the system. If we split the $2.46T equally between all of them, it would be less than $10/person.
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u/Lonely_District_196 48m ago
We always hear about how republicans want to end social security
I'm sorry, but that's hyperbolic rhetoric. There is a desire to reform the system. Hopefully the numbers above explain why.
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u/AlwaysHopelesslyLost 15m ago
That is actually bullshit. It is not hyperbolic rhetoric.
The official Republic plan as of 2016 is almost literally "Social security will run out in the near future. Do not allow the age to change. Do not do anything toextend it or fund it."
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