Prompt Cast
The Social Security Act of 1935: A Ponzi Scheme Comparison and Concerns for the Future
TLDR This podcast episode explores the Social Security Act of 1935, its comparison to a Ponzi scheme, and the steps being taken to address its sustainability. It also discusses the adoption and distribution of Social Security numbers, concerns about their use for identification, and the potential reassignment of numbers in the future.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
The podcast episode discusses the Social Security Act of 1935 and how it is often compared to a Ponzi scheme.
04:29
The Social Security Administration is taking steps to address the sustainability of the program, including raising the amount of money people contribute and investing in treasury bonds, but there are concerns about the burden that will be placed on future workers to support retired workers.
09:00
The Social Security number was adopted as the official federal ID and taxpayer ID number, despite the initial cards explicitly stating not to use them for identification, and the process of distributing the numbers involved employers filling out forms and mailing them back to the Social Security administration, who then assigned the numbers and sent them to the post office for distribution.
13:41
Grace D. Owen of Concord, New Hampshire received the lowest Social Security number, 001-01-0001, not because she was first in line, but because of where she lived.
18:36
Social Security numbers were initially assigned based on zip codes, but eventually they started using area numbers to account for the growing number of states and zip codes.
23:30
In order to account for the growing number of states and zip codes, it is likely that social security numbers will eventually be reassigned from deceased individuals, potentially starting from the beginning again.
27:48
The surplus from social security is currently invested in Treasury bonds, but there is no guarantee that this system will work, which is troubling.
32:25
Using social security numbers for identification is a problem because they are too publicly available and can easily be used for identity theft.
36:43
One piece of advice is to periodically request a copy of your earnings and benefit estimate statement from the SSA website.
41:46
If you want to know more about social security numbers, you can read an article about them on howstuffworks.com.
Categories:
Society & Culture
