The best investment we could make in retirement would /honestly/ be in public owned automation and production of all basic things that don't inherently /require/ human labor.

The sooner we can have a society more like Star Trek's utopian future the better for anyone that wants to retire without being a burden on the current generation. (Even then, I don't think I'd ever want to /fully/ retire, I'd just like to focus on things I actually find fun and meaningful.)

Best investment for whom, though? Not companies. Not governments, not because it wouldn't be beneficial, but because there's no incentive – the benefits are down the road, probably beyond the time it takes for the current generation of politicians to retire.

As a Gen-X'er I was told in my twenties that Social Security was going to run out by the time I was forty. Here I am, in my forties, and it hasn't run out yet. That's not to say that it can't or won't. But in those twenty years, if I've learned anything, it's to not trust the headlines.

Since 2014 Social Security has run out of money, and the shortfall is being financed by general federal borrowing. It just isn't in the headlines these days.

Another right wing frame... Social Security was in surplus for several years, and it will be several more years before the surplus is exhausted, if ever.

The right wing frame is that the surplus "doesn't exist" or is full of "IOUs" or something. It's hogwash.

Here's how it really works. When Social Security is in surplus, more money comes in from payroll taxes than is paid out in benefits. Payroll taxes come from people who get W-2 income and pay FICA.

That surplus is then used as part of the general fund to pay for various things including thing like tax cuts for lower capital gains. In reality, the general deficit is larger, because the surplus money isn't allocated for those purposes - the surplus continues to exist to pay for social security when it goes into deficit.

If we then pretend that that surplus "isn't actually there", then it means that we've effectively used payroll taxes to fund tax cuts for people that are richer than the people who have paid their payroll taxes. It's a two-step con. It's also false.

Social Security has also transition from surplus to deficit and back to surplus in the past as well.

It doesn't matter whether or not Social Security has a nominal surplus or deficit, the important part is what that dollar of Social Security benefit will buy you. Unless there is a secular shift in the tax base such as much more immigration, much higher incomes, or many more children, demographics suggest a smaller portion of the country working to pay for a larger portion of the non working country.

Other countries are already seeing this, but there is no escape from raising the retirement age, and the best way to slash benefits, which is to keep them behind real inflation. Also, medicare is an even bigger problem as it has no upper limit on spend, which will also have to be cut somehow.

Bottom line is, the more resources you spend on the past, such as aging people and infrastructure, the less you can on the future, such as for you and your kids. That is unavoidable.

I think you're missing a step. The surpluses are invested in Treasury securities, which is where the "IOUs" tripe comes from. Figures for the national debt invariably _include_ these securities, which is worthwhile to point out lest people think the liability is somehow hidden with shell games.

I think the latest figures for the national debt are just shy of $14 trillion, of which about $3 trillion is owed to the Social Security trust funds.

Trust fund is targeted to run out in 2034.

Source: https://www.ssa.gov/policy/trust-funds-summary.html

Uh, no.

In FY2016, it ran a surplus of $23 billion. For FY2017 the surplus was $35 billion.

Stats here: https://www.ssa.gov/policy/trust-funds-summary.html

Two things to note:

1- taxes aren’t going up, even though Boomers have already begun to retire;

2- if Boomers live for a long time in retirement, everyone after them is hosed.

Maybe able-bodied Boomer should work longer.