Reply #17: My favorite part of SS [View All]

[regularjoe]

You know, taking money from yourself, spending it, and then paying yourself back with interest. right...

From <http://www.ssa.gov/qa.htm>

Q.
Is there really a Social Security trust fund?

A.

Yes. Presently, Social Security collects more in taxes than it pays in benefits. The excess is borrowed by the U.S. Treasury, which in turn issues special-issue Treasury bonds to Social Security. These bonds totaled $1.5 trillion at the beginning of 2004, and Social Security receives more than $80 billion annually in interest from them. However, Social Security is still basically a "pay-as-you-go" system as the $1.5 trillion is a small percent of benefit obligations.