Wrong premise. Social Security was never a "retirement program." The payees (all of us) were never putting money aside for later.
From the very beginning in 1935, the program was envisioned as current workers paying into a fund that provided benefit for current retirees. My money didn't pay for my retirement; it paid for my parents' retirement.
So yes, all of us on Social Security are actually receiving a federal benefit. We're part of the majority. It was 12 years ago, in 2011, that the number of people receiving federal benefits exceeded 50% of the population.
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