Debunking the top 10 Social Security myths
Posted on 16 July 2012
By Mark Miller
Permanent URL of this article: http://retirementrevised.com/money/debunking-the-top-10-social-security-myths
Social Security is going bankrupt. It’s a Ponzi scheme. The program’s trust fund contains nothing but a bunch of worthless IOUs.
Those are just a few of the comments we hear frequently from journalists, politicians, and policymakers about Social Security. But they’re all false–and that’s a big problem.
Social Security is one of our most important linchpins of retirement security, yet discussion and analysis of the program and its future are remarkably fact-free–a situation that isn’t likely to improve during this year’s election season.
My Morningstar column this month dispels the fog with a list of the top 10 myths about Social Security–along with the facts. Be sure to check out the intense discussion underway in the comment area of the story; the feedback is running about 50-50 between those who think I’m a socialist, Communist or worse–and those who think Social Security has an important role to play in our country and is worth understanding — and preserving.
