I can only speak for myself, but I have ~ 15 years working under my belt and my SS will be anywhere from 43-54k / yr depending on whether I wait till 70 to file

I can only speak for myself, but I have ~ 15 years working under my belt and my SS will be anywhere from 43-54k / yr depending on whether I wait till 70 to file. That's certainly not poverty wages, especially when you consider that most households have two earners. Social security is meant to give you a baseline of living expenses. I'd argue it pays enough to live a dignified life in retirement, but maybe not a rich one. As I said, I know a lot of older folks living off social security in my home town, and it is doable, but it's not lavish. I view it as a very good inflation indexed annuity to help insure against longevity risk, but I personally won't need it and won't really be that affected if it's cut by 30% as they're threatening.