US Social Security Myths

[swansont]

This came up in another thread. No, the government never "raided" the social security trust fund. They never put the money in the general fund.

From page 1, rather than the page you linked to
"The answer is that the federal government has borrowed all of that trust fund money and spent it"

The government "borrowed" it much the same way it borrows money from others: it issues bonds. Social security buys some of this bonds, which is what they have to do, by law. The goverment did not "raid" anything; that's a bad characterization of the situation.

 

...

 

The reason check might not have gone out is that if the debt limit were reached, the govenment couldn't let anyone redeem bonds. Not me and my savings bonds, and not social security.

...

From the SSA website itself:


https://www.ssa.gov/history/InternetMyths2.html

There has never been any change in the way the Social Security program is financed or the way that Social Security payroll taxes are used by the federal government. The Social Security Trust Fund was created in 1939 as part of the Amendments enacted in that year. From its inception, the Trust Fund has always worked the same way. The Social Security Trust Fund has never been "put into the general fund of the government."

https://www.ssa.gov/oact/progdata/fundFAQ.html

By law, income to the trust funds must be invested, on a daily basis, in securities guaranteed as to both principal and interest by the Federal government. All securities held by the trust funds are "special issues" of the United States Treasury. Such securities are available only to the trust funds.
In the past, the trust funds have held marketable Treasury securities, which are available to the general public. Unlike marketable securities, special issues can be redeemed at any time at face value. Marketable securities are subject to the forces of the open market and may suffer a loss, or enjoy a gain, if sold before maturity. Investment in special issues gives the trust funds the same flexibility as holding cash.

 

So you can hang on to myths and misrepresentations being fed to you, or you can do a little work (this took a few minutes of searching; the SSA FAQ was the first hit) and find out the unadulterated facts, and let them inform you.