Social Security--still the best retirement deal around

[meaculpa2011]

44. Personally, for me...

Social Security is a bad deal.

I've been paying into the system since 1963. I've been self employed since 1981, so my SS rate has been around 15% for more than thirty years. If I just took that money and put it in a mattress I would have accumulated more than $600,000 by now. If I die tomorrow, my wife and kids would get the money.

I'll be eligible for SS next year and I haven't looked up what my benefit might be, but I suspect that it won't be as much as I could earn from my savings. If I die before I start collecting, what does my family get?

My Dad paid very little into the system and he's been collecting for nearly thirty years. Hopefully he'll collect for many more. My grandfather paid into the system for twenty years, collected three checks and died at age 65 plus three months. My grandmother had to go to work at age 63. She continued working into her 80s. She was good at it and she enjoyed it, but many do not.

Social Security is a great deal, but for some it may not be the best deal. It's main benefits are safety and certainty and that's what needs to be hammered home relentlessly.