ANTS AND GRASSHOPPERS

All That Work for Nothing? A letter from the Social Security Administration makes the case for reform (Brendan Miniter, 3/16/05, Opinion Journal)

Looking over the letter, however, it became clear that there is a fundamental flaw in the arrangement. Although, I've already paid enough into the system to "qualify" for benefits, not a penny of that money is likely to be counted in determining the size of my retirement benefits. What's more, whatever I pay over the next two years probably won't count either. The problem here is that I am only 30 years old. Social Security counts only a worker's top 35 wage-earning years when determining benefits. And since the government considers 67 to be my "full retirement age," assuming a steady climb of income, I'm still two years away from starting to accrue the credit that will determine the size of my monthly Social Security check. In other words, the system is exactly the inverse of what we've all been told to do in planning for our retirement. Those who work hard and put money into the system early in life, get the same as those who start paying in later on. And as a proportion of what they've paid in, the early-contributing ants actually get less than their grasshopper peers.

[Self-Reference Alert] Remember your first real job? Mine was counting customers' deposit-returned (stinky!) aluminum beer cans and rounding up shopping carts in the 110 degree summer heat for the local super market 22 years ago. Today, Mr. Miniter sheds new meaning to the acronym "F.I.C.A" on that first paycheck.