I think Social Security is kind of dumb. The whole concept is "you're not smart enough to save your money on your own so we'll do it for you." I think everyone who paid it should recieve it, but the government isn't here for the purpose of taking our money by force and then repaying it later. I think a better solution would be to give the option to put in a government bond or something like that, or to invest it privately, or to just put in your pocket. But don't know if that would be possible since we have to pay for our parents' SS.