I got home from my trip to piles of junk mail and bills and…..my own Social Security Statement that, I was informed, was very thoughtfully “prepared especially” for me! In it was a list of all the money sto…er, taken from my earnings, along with a statement of what I would receive from the government if I were to continue working until 62, 66 and 4 months, or 70, and what my disability payment would be if I were to “become disabled right now.” (It also mentioned what my spouse would receive, if I were married to a woman; of course, that wouldn’t apply to me, which is yet another reason why I might prefer to opt out of the current compulsory one-size-fits-all system.) It was good to see that all of the promised benefits had asterisks that referred me to this statement:
*Your estimated benefits are based on current law. Congress has made changes to the law in the past and can do so at any time. The law governing benefit amounts may change because, by 2042, the payroll taxes collected will be enought to pay only about 73 percent of scheduled benefits.