[Caymus]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

Not sure what numbers you're looking at, but here's mine (rounded):

Between my payroll deduction and employer contribution, I've paid in just under $60,000 in social security taxes.

I'm getting $40 more per month in social security payments than I did when I started getting them, just 1.5 years ago. I anticipate around $20 more per month for 2026. Regardless:

At the current total of my social security checks, I will have received 100% of what I put in, and what my employer put in, by the 7th year of collecting social security checks. I won't even be 70 years old yet, at that point, because I started getting them when I was 62.

This means that all the checks I receive after I turn 70, will be "in addition" to what I/my employer paid in. If I live to be 90, that'll mean 100% of what I get post 70-years-old will be "profit." I dunno - seems like a pretty good deal to me. Get a 100% return on your initial investment in 7 years after the start of the payout, and then keep getting steady monthly checks for the next 20 (or more) years.

Not true for everybody. It is a progressive system for benefits. Lower lifetime incomes have higher % payouts.