It’s a bummer when you see how much income tax comes out of your paycheck. But when you see that Social Security line item, do you think, "At least that’s going to pay for my retirement”?

It’s not.

The tax money you’re paying into Social Security today is going to fund today’s retirees. Who will pay for your benefits? The next generation of workers.

And the payout gets worse with each generation. Heritage experts explain (see chart here):

Early recipients of Social Security received more than six dollarsin benefits for every dollar paid in Social Security taxes. Today and in the future, recipients will receive less than a dollar in benefits for every dollar paid in Social Security taxes. (emphasis added)

So the system wasn’t exactly built to be sustainable, was it? That’s why it desperately needs reform.

This idea that Social Security takes from succeeding generations has become all too real for some Americans in the past few years. Because of a change to the statute of limitations on debts owed to the government, the government is now able to go after debts that are decades old. Some are owed by dead people. And if one of those deceased is your ancestor, the feds will come knocking at your door.

Or they’ll just keep your tax refund.

This is what happened to Mary Grice. The Washington Post reports that "Social Security claims it overpaid someone” in Grice’s family in the past—"it’s not sure who”—and now the government wants that money back. Officials tracked down Grice and intercepted her tax refund.

BY Amy Payne - Heritage.org