Reply #2: I doubt you're going to get much sympathy here calling Social Security a "Ponzi scheme."

[TheWraith]

And you've got faulty assumptions there--first off, that you're going to be putting in $4,500 a year, every single year, from the time you're 16 years old, which is what you're calculating. Furthermore, 5% is a rather generous assumption of interest if you're going with no-risk PRIVATE investments.

Now let's re-do those calculations. Assuming someone goes to work at 22, out of college. Assume that in the 43 years between there and 65, they're unemployed for 4 of them, which isn't inconceivable. That's 39 years working. Now let's calculate that with 3% interest. Your nest egg becomes $334,805. Drawing out at $26k a year, you're bankrupt by the time you're 78.