What the Social Security Administration Doesn't Say

July 24, 2003

Guest opinion writer for the Tucson Citizen Robert Carreira writes: "By now most of us have received our personalized statements from the Social Security Administration to help us better understand what Social Security means to us and our families … Although the statement contains an abundance of facts and figures about Social Security, there are some important things the statement doesn't tell us."

In his opinion piece, "Social Security Statement Leaves Out Lots of Info," Carreira provides the following information not listed in Social Security's annual statements:

• "The statement does not mention that Social Security is currently facing a $10 trillion liability. What this means is that the amount of benefits the current population will be entitled to at age 65 exceeds the amount they will pay into the system by $10 trillion.
• "The statement doesn't mention that by most accounts, Social Security will become insolvent sometime between 2025 and 2040, and that sometime between 2010 and 2015 it will begin taking in less than it pays out. It also doesn't mention that the only way to repair the dire financial state of Social Security is through a drastic reduction in benefits or an intolerable increase in taxes—or both.
• "The statement makes no mention of the fact that the Social Security Act of 1935 was sold to the American people as a retirement investment system, but since then, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Fleming v. Nester, ruled that American workers have no legally binding claim to Social Security benefits. Nor is there any mention that Social Security 'contributions' are not really contributions at all, but according to the Supreme Court in Helvering v. Davis, are taxes 'not earmarked in any way.'
• "The statement doesn't say that we are currently paying 12.4 percent of our income to fund Social Security. It doesn't tell us that our 'employer's matching contribution' is considered by employers in calculating the cost of labor and that if this amount were not surrendered to the government, it would be provided to us in the form of increased wages.
• "The statement fails to mention the average 25-year-old worker investing his or her current Social Security taxes privately could expect to earn retirement benefits several times higher than the 'estimated benefits' shown on the statement.
• "The statement makes no mention of the fact that the much-touted Social Security Trust Fund contains nothing but government I.O.U.s, effectively hiding great portions of the national debt … It doesn't mention that we the taxpayers will be required to pay back not only the funds pilfered, but also the interest due."

In light of this information, he writes: "The next time you receive your personalized statement, telling you what Social Security means to you and your family, focus not on what the statement says but rather on what it doesn't say."

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