hmmmm...not sure how this got here, but it deserves a reply. to understand SS, you don't really have to understand anything but simple math and economics. problem 1. you can't pay out more than you take in. problem 2. the aging babyboomers and the overall population explosion here on planet earth. problem 3. the mindset of people that they are supposed to "took care of" by their goverment.
not alot you can do about 2 or 3. number 1 is a big problem too. everybody can't retire comfortably. everybody can't even retire. you can't produce money from thin air. everybody can't win. for every winner, there must be a loser. money is not "earned" in an investment, it is an exchange of wealth. for every person that wants to buy a piece of stock at XX dollars, there is someone who wants to sell it just as bad. to undermine this, promotes inflation. if the timing is good, then you will make better money with your private account. if it is not, then someone must lose..... or someone else must guarantee your return. guarantees cost "everybody else" instead of you. (back to square one) so there you have it. either pay more as individuals, pay more as a society, or accept spiralling inflation for decades to come. any way you look at it, it is a losing proposition. the privately funded accounts are only a band-aid...a temporary fix. better than what we have but there still has to be losers. when we accept this, we as a society will be better off.