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christhomasburns t1_jdtgf7c wrote

No, they promise to pay you interest, they do not hold it in any way. Current recipients are being payed out by current payers.

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Thr0waway3691215 t1_jdtmej7 wrote

Yes and no, a good chunk is disbursed, but the remainder is put into Treasury bonds. But even if all of the money went out to current recipients, that's still not a Ponzi scheme. At best, you could call Social Security underfunded in that case, but there's no attempt to defraud anyone.

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christhomasburns t1_jdyixdz wrote

That's the literal definition of a ponzi scheme, but you do you. Doesn't matter anyway. If you were born after 1980 it'll be insolvent by the time you retire.

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Thr0waway3691215 t1_jdyk21k wrote

No, it's really not, it's been paying out its obligations as promised. I get what you're trying to say, but that just makes it underfunded. There's nobody running off with all the money, it's going to people it's supposed to, so that immediately eliminates it being a Ponzi scam.

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