Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 5 · column 1 of 7 · from the scan, no model involved
By DORCAS R. HARDY
Commissioner of Social Security
Perhaps no other domestic program has been obscured by myths as much as the Social Security program.
The simple truth is that Social Security was bom in myth, sold to Congress and the American public as an insurance program in 1935. Each worker received an account number with an implication that his or her taxes, at that time referred to as contributions, went into a banktype account invested for retirement.
In fact, Social Security has operated for many years as a pay-as-yougo system — today’s workers pay for today’s beneficiaries, yesterday’s beneficiaries, and tomorrow’s workers will pay for tomorrow’s beneficiaries.
The biggest myth about the program that still exists is that Social Security is going broke. While Social Security was in serious financial shape a few short years ago, it is no longer.
Today the program is operating on a solid financial basis. In fact, the trust fund reserves are scheduled to increase significantly over the next several decades to ensure that monies are there to finance the benefits of the “baby boom” generation when they retire.
Another myth that persists is that some workers have paid in hundreds of thousands of dollars into Social Security and will never get their money’s worth out of the program. Again, that is not true.
In fact, a 65-year-old worker who
92.8%