Social Security taxes are actually a rather large 12.4% of income. (this includes the employer contribution, which is economically part of a worker's compensati

Social Security taxes are actually a rather large 12.4% of income. (this includes the employer contribution, which is economically part of a worker's compensation.) http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/ProgData/taxRates.html http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/ProgData/taxRates.html Worker "contributions" also are immediately spent on unrelated programs (the trust fund is given special government IOUs that are valueless) leaving an unfunded liability in the trillions of dollars. On a cash-flow basis, the program will begin to run in the red as the first boomers retire in 2017.