I can start collecting that amount at 67, and will statistically die at 78.

So 11 years of benefits is $185k.

Meanwhile, if I make an average of $100k for just 12 years, then I will have paid that much into the system (15% contribution). And that's not even counting the massive amount of compounding that will have occurred as I've been contributing since I was 14 years old.

I know it's quite popular for the HN crowd to talk about raising taxes for things like universal health care, social programs, etc.

But when I actually do the numbers and look at how I'm already paying about 1/3 of my income to taxes, I'm beginning to see why many conservatives don't trust the government to be fair stewards of our money.