(This isn't entirely a reply to you, my apologies) https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/SPDYNLE00INUSA https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/SPDYNLE00INUSA graphs o

(This isn't entirely a reply to you, my apologies) https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/SPDYNLE00INUSA https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/SPDYNLE00INUSA graphs out life expectancy for the US since 1960. I couldn't find a source where it went back to 1935 as well. According to the World Bank, we're averaging about 78 right now. So, with the same assumptions made in 1935, we should be working until we're about 76; a full 11 more years of contributions before withdrawal. Some will live longer, some won't make it. Life sucks. (Aside: who will actively employ septuagenarians?) Combine that same thought with the idea of the maximum taxable limit ($128,400) and the "demise of SS" would probably be a lot less of a real threat. Then again, in its inception, it only taxed from the first $3,000[1] wage earned (~$55,000 in today's money). [1] https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/policybriefs/pb2011-02.html https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/policybriefs/pb2011-02.html