Social Security was established 90 years ago, signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt in August 1935.
According to Roosevelt, the goal of the program was to “give some measure of protection to the average citizen and to his family against the loss of a job and against poverty-ridden old age.”
Except the program is on a trajectory to insolvency. By late 2032, without Congressional action, benefits will be cut by 24 percent across the board.
In other words, it was never designed as a retirement program. In fact, the life expectancy in 1935 was 59 for males and 62 for females. Social Security was originally devised to insure against poverty – just in case – a person defied the odds and lived to 65.
Roughly 68 million people currently receive a monthly check from Social Security, w