re: In just a few years, the average retiree will be receiving 37% more in SS than he paid in

This is lying with statistics. If I had put all the money that went to SS into a safe investment, like bonds - my money would have grown many times over. I"ve heard a rule of thumb that invested money doubles every 7 years on aveage. I've been giving money to SS for 50 years. So my money should have doubled 7 times when you average it all out. It would be Super Modest to say I and my employer have given 5K a year over all that time. That first 5K would have become 10, then 20, then 40, then 80, then 160, then 320, then 640. And that's just the first 5K. So tell me again how I'm gong to get more than I deserve at 30K year payout?