So basically, employees are giving the government a 45 year loan at zero interest. Even at just a 1.5% rate, the typical employee pays their own way.
> (Remember, the couple didn’t literally pay out $600,000; that’s the current value of what they paid out over the years, plus an additional 2 percent they may have gotten had it been invested.)
Even accounting for inflation and investment, the average worker still is paid out more from Social Security than they paid in.
The source cited combines “Social Security and Medicare”, it doesn't (at least in the quoted excerpt) address SS separately. These are different programs supported by different Trust Funds funded by different taxes applicable to different income and with different dynamics driving costs.