If you have high blood pressure, you may want to stop reading now!
I’m about to show you how the federal government has been ROBBING you blind for your entire working life, and the numbers are going to make you absolutely FURIOUS.
Meet “Average Joe.” He’s not a CEO. He’s not a trust fund baby. He’s the guy who earned exactly the AVERAGE American salary for his age every single year of his working life. Started working at 18 in 1981, making $3,233 that year. Worked his way up like everyone else. By 2024, he was making $88,291 – right at the national average for someone his age. Joe did everything right. He showed up. He worked. He played by the rules.
For 46 years, the government FORCED Joe and his employers to pay into Social Security. Every paycheck – 6.2% from Joe, 6.2% from his employer. That’s 12.4% of EVERYTHING Joe ever earned, taken before he could even touch it.
Joe’s TOTAL contributions over his lifetime: $249,642
Here’s what makes my blood boil. That money doesn’t sit in an account with Joe’s name on it. It doesn’t collect interest. It doesn’t grow. The MOMENT they take it from Joe’s check, THEY SPEND IT on current retirees. Joe’s “retirement fund” is nothing but an IOU – a promise that future workers will pay for HIM someday.
That’s not a retirement plan. That’s a PONZI SCHEME. Paying earlier investors with money from newer investors. Bernie Madoff went to prison for this. The federal government made it mandatory.
So what does Joe GET for his $249,642?
At 67, Joe collects about $2,163/month. If he lives 18 years (average life expectancy), he’ll receive roughly $467,208 total.
“See? He gets back more than he put in!”
Oh really? Let me show you what Joe SHOULD have had.
I ran the EXACT same numbers through a TSP (Thrift Savings Plan) invested in an S&P 500 index fund – the same option the MILITARY uses. Same contributions. Joe’s 6.2% plus his employer’s 6.2%. Invested in the market. Dividends reinvested. Using ACTUAL historical returns from 1981-2026 – including the 2008 crash, 2022 downturn, every bad year.
JOE’S TSP BALANCE AT RETIREMENT: $2,551,938
I’ll wait while you pick your jaw up off the floor.
TWO AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS. From the same money the government took and WASTED.
Using the conservative 4% withdrawal rule, Joe could pull $8,506 EVERY SINGLE MONTH – that’s nearly FOUR TIMES what Social Security pays. And his balance would likely KEEP GROWING.
But here’s what REALLY gets me. When Joe dies, Social Security pays his family NOTHING. His wife? His kids? His grandkids? ZERO. 46 years of contributions vanish like they never existed. But the TSP? His family inherits over $2.5 MILLION.
Every single working-class American should have GENERATIONAL WEALTH. Your kids should inherit something. Your grandkids should have a head start. But the government is BLOCKING you from building that wealth by forcing you into Social Security instead of letting you invest YOUR money in YOUR account.
You want a better life for your kids. The government surely does NOT.
They want your children starting from zero, just like you did. They want every generation dependent on government checks instead of family wealth. They want control.
THE ROBBERY IN BLACK AND WHITE:
SOCIAL SECURITY:
- Joe contributes $249,642
- Joe MIGHT collect $467,208 (if he lives long enough)
- Joe’s family inherits $0
- Joe’s kids start from ZERO
TSP (S&P 500):
- Joe contributes $249,642
- Balance grows to $2,551,938
- Joe collects $102,078/year ($8,506/month)
- Joe’s family inherits MILLIONS
- Joe’s kids get a REAL head start
The government stole over TWO MILLION DOLLARS from Average Joe. Not a billionaire. Not a CEO. Just a regular guy who worked his whole life and trusted the system. And they stole his children’s inheritance too.
And you know what really burns? Congress EXEMPTED THEMSELVES from Social Security. They get their own cushy pension. The people who FORCE you into this disaster made absolutely sure THEY don’t have to participate in it. Their kids inherit plenty.
President Bush tried to fix this in 2005 with personal retirement accounts. Democrats called it “destroying Social Security.” Translation: they wanted to keep the scam running. They NEED you dependent on that government check. They NEED your kids dependent too.
The Army already figured this out. The Blended Retirement System lets service members invest in TSP accounts. If it’s good enough for our troops, why isn’t it good enough for every American worker?
Quinn’s First Law: “Liberalism always generates the exact opposite of its stated intent.” Social Security was supposed to provide retirement SECURITY. Instead, it’s the greatest wealth transfer AWAY from working Americans in history – and it ensures working-class families NEVER build generational wealth.
This is why they fight against financial literacy in schools. They don’t want you running these numbers. They need you ignorant and dependent. Generation after generation.
But what do I know? I’m just a science teacher who can actually do math and isn’t afraid to show you that the government has been running a legal Ponzi scheme on American workers since 1935 – and stealing your children’s future in the process.
Feel free to share this with everyone you know. They deserve to see exactly how badly they’re being robbed.
Mike Borowski is a medically retired Army combat medic with 23 years of service, including a combat deployment to Iraq, and a high school Anatomy and Physics teacher at a high-need Career Technical district in Northeast Ohio — where he also wrote and published the textbooks for both courses. He runs “Bski’s Classroom,” a platform dedicated to cutting through political noise with data, history, and the kind of blunt honesty that comes from someone who has seen both war and the American classroom up close.
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