Your Social Security...A Primer

On Aug. 14, 1935, President Roosevelt signed in the Social Security Act as part of his "New Deal". All of Congress and the President were exempt from this tax. The first payroll deductions started in 1937.
THERE IS NO LEGAL REQUIREMENT TO JOIN THE SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM.
Your Social Security Number is NOT to be used for identification.
However, your employer is obligated by law to deduct it from your pay anyway...
At that time, payroll taxes were to NEVER exceed 1% on the first $3000 of income.
The first person to collect Social Security was Ida May Fuller of Ludlow, VT. on 1/31/1940. From 1937 to 1939, she paid in a total of $24.75 and received over her lifetime a total of $22,888.92. A great "investment".
Since its inception, Congress has made several changes that have been tested in the Supreme Court (but to no avail).
1949 - Rate increased to 3%
1956 - Rate increased to 4% and Disability Benefits added
1961 - Men could retire at 62 with a 6% reduction in benefits
1962 - Women could retire at 62 with a 25% reduction in benefits, but no penalty for widows
1965 - Lyndon Johnson added Medicare to the "fund", added the money from Social Security to the General Fund and allowed widows to collect at 60
1972 - An increase in benefits of 20% was introduced
1974 - Under the "Privacy Act", your SS number was to be used as Taxpayer ID and the tax rate was again increased to 7.65%
1975 - A Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) was added
1977 - Under Jimmy Carter, the tax rate was increased to 6.15%
1983 - Congress and the President became covered for SS benefits
2008 - the amount of income to be taxed rose to $102,000
Now that the government has broken its original deal with us and keeps modifying it, Congress wants to include illegal aliens in the system. Obama has stopped the COLA for at least the next three years. The retirement age keeps increasing.
Looking ahead, eventually, everyone will be eligible to collect SS but not until age 100 and receive less than $1. Obviously, this game is about to end.