Elon Musk Calls Social Security A ‘Ponzi Scheme’

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elon-musk-social-security-ponzi-scheme_n_67c337cce4b049364f4586a3

by Majano57

36 comments

  2. A Ponzi scheme only benefits one person: the guy running the scheme. Sometimes early investors get out early with a profit, but normally the return is so good no one pulls their investment.

    Social Security isn’t a Ponzi scheme.

    No single person has the ability to siphon off the deposited funds.

    No one gets paid out in a lump sum.

    No one gets benefits early.

  3. “Elon Musk is calling Social Security a “Ponzi scheme,” prompting suspicion that the world’s richest man is merely hoping to privatize a social safety net that has existed since the 1930s — and has kept millions of elderly, poor and disabled Americans from destitution.”

    First, these guys are about as subtle as a brick. We know Republicans have been coming after Social Security for years. Senator Rick Scott infamously wrote up a plan to “sunset” entitlements.

    Second, this is our money. Americans have paid into Social Security for decades. Any talk about taking away Social Security is a theft of the American people.

    The Social Security trust fund is projected to decline primarily because of an aging population and a declining workforce. So do we need to make adjustments? Yes. But to say it is a Ponzi scheme is wrong. And Elon knows this.

    Social Security is not a fraud. Millions of Americans pay into this every year, and have been, since it started in 1935. And millions of Americans receive Social Security every year. When you are a billionaire on a platform like Musk, you have a responsibility to not say outrageous things that cause fear and anxiety among senior citizens who are already living at poverty level. If Republicans really wanted to solve the Social Security funding issue, they know what they need to do. They just will not do it.

    Essentially, any income over the earnings cap, approximately $160,000, is not subject to the Social Security payroll tax. Meaning middle- and lower-income Americans have a much greater tax burden in funding Social Security than the 6% of Americans who earn above that cap. They should lift the tax cap and add the Social Security tax to investment and business income, which is currently exempt. But again, Republicans know what should be done. They just refuse to do it. They would rather send poverty level seniors into homelessness while giving corporations and the rich more tax cuts. This is the Republican Party.

  5. Give back all the free money the government gave you Elon. You are a welfare queen, not the low wage, disabled, elderly person trying to survive on $15,000 a year. Government Funded Corporations who underpay the employees are welfare queens. Government funded benefits paid by the whole population is fine. It’s the 1% sucking the government teet that is the issue. Learn to be content with a billion dollars.

  6. Libertarian low IQ talking point that they just won’t give up on. I really want nothing to do with anything associated with this turd.

  8. By definition it is a Ponzi scheme. Unfortunately too many people rely on SSA benefits as their retirement income. It was designed as a supplement to private pension benefits. (Also – why is Congress not enrolled in social security?).

  9. Is that similar to how the rest of us pay taxes, those taxes are funneled to billionaires in the form of government contracts and subsidies, and then billionaires pay no taxes, or nominally tiny taxes rates compared to the rest of us? Hmm

  10. Well, we do get back less than what we put in if you factor in investment/inflation. However, we absolutely cannot just get rid of it.

  12. Its a ponzi scheme because the money was mismanaged(36 trillion debt). So the ss relies on the current workforce to keep paying in.

    By definition…a ponzi. There is no basket of money at the whitehouse for SS.

  13. It is. But I’ve contributed quite a bit, and I want my money.

  14. “And I know Ponzi schemes. I’ve run a few myself.”

  15. He’s technically right, and it works because the federal government is the back stop, so it won’t crash, so keep your hands the fuck off of it, Leon.

  17. Unlike crypto which Donald is now putting in the nation’s strategic reserve.

  18. looks like all retirees will be receiving email to reply with 5 bullet items to prove their qualification.

  19. Elon argues people aren’t having kids. You think this will help people have more kids when they have to support their aging parents financially.

    Let’s make things cheaper across board the board then you can cut things.

    Also tax corporations!

  20. First, SS is a scam. Let’s say you have a married couple; the man is 68 and the woman is 62. The woman has worked all of her life and paid into SS. The man has done the same thing and made more money overall than the wife. The wife dies at 62. The husband must decide whether to take HIS SS or HER SS. He gets to choose one and the other goes back to the government. ALL, 100% of her SS goes back to the government. Not to her husband, not to her kids or grandkids. Uncle Sam keeps it all. Why do they get to keep all of her money? She already paid a lifetime of taxes. Sounds like a scam.

    Let’s say you are single and you start collecting SS at the age 65, and then you die at 70. Guess who gets all of your SS? The government.

    Second, if you were allowed to NOT invest in SS, and instead you took the same amount and invested into SPY, one of the most popular ETFs in the world, you would have 2.5 times MORE money in that account than you would in SS. Also, when you die, 100% of that money will go to your benefactor INSTEAD of Uncle Sam.

    Example.

    If you paid $5,000 into Social Security for 40 years, it would be worth approximately $441,608 when you turn 68.

    If you invested $5,000 per year into SPY (S&P 500) for 40 years, it would be worth approximately $1,068,048 at age 68.

    I know a lot of you hate Trump and anything he is connected to. How you got there, either by swallowing everything the media has fed you or by your brain power, is on you. But please apply common sense and logic to everything you see on the news and the internet.

    A lot of you are disagreeing with him, NOT because you know much about SS, but because you hate him. That is an immature way of thinking. We all need to be better.

  21. Being that a portion of his wealth is tied to the stock share price of Tesla, I’m thinking maybe he is knowledgeable in this department.

  22. Musk is the type of guy to post unironically on r/fluentinfinance.

  25. I’m not saying somebody should. I’m not. That’s not me. No, no. Couldn’t be me. Somebody could, sure, but I’m not saying somebody should. I’m not saying that.

  26. Sigh.

    Elon’s ignorant. But so are most people on this issue.

    Social security is current US government expenditure. It’s not some pot of money you pay in to and then take out of when you retire.

    The money you pay out if your income into the “social security fund” is a tax. It ensures your current consumption is reduced to allow for retired people living at the same time as you’re working to consume it instead despite them contributing nothing much to production. The monetary accounting is just a mirage to facilitate the real transfer of this consumption from current labour force to current retirees.

    There is no ponzi scheme going on here and the social security spending conducted by government is **never** under nominal threat from a “diminished social security fund accounting structure”. The only threat to the ability of the US government to continue spending the same amount on social security payments at current prices is a drop in production of the consumption patterns of retirees.

    If the current labour force becomes incapable of producing excess of their consumption, in particular produce such as health and social care goods and services, then retirees will suffer a real drop in purchasing power as prices increase (unless an offset is felt somewhere else).

    The key point with this discussion is that where Musk and others have focused for decades (on the banal supposed nominal financial threat of social security) is COMPLETELY the wrong narrative and focal point. The discourse needs to move to “how do we as a society provision the desired consumption of a growing and ailing retired population at the same time as the dependency ratio (number of labour force participants per retireed person) is growing. The finances are a trivial problem you easily figure out at a macro scale as long as you’ve planned and sorted out the real consumption and production problem.

  27. 400 billion dollar networth and he still does not want others to have a few thousands of dollars

  28. I have heard this right-wing horseshit about “SS is a ponzi scheme” my entire life.

    There are several crucial differences between a ponzi scheme and SS, the most important of which is that ponzi schemes rely on luring new suckers to pay previous suckers. And since the US government is a currency issuer and congress has the power to literally spend money into existence, SS DOES NOT rely on contributions to pay out. It could not take in a dime and remain solvent, via mere act of congressional governance. Revenue is not a constraint on spending.

    Of course, it is obvious that no Ponzi schemer would ever cap your contribution at $250k annually, as SS does.

    And most importantly, ponzi schemes are motivated by profit-seeking. My distaste for the PMC (that’s you) not withstanding, no one is getting rich administering SS benefits, believe that. Bernie Madoff isn’t floating around a pool on $18 out of everyone’s paycheck or whatever.

    This “SS is a ponzi scheme” is a claim by people who do not know anything about government finance OR bona fide ponzi schemes, seems to me.

  29. More on this subject from other reputable sources:

    —
    – Newsweek (B-): [Social Security Update: Mike Johnson Explains Elon Musk’s and GOP’s Goals](https://www.newsweek.com/social-security-update-mike-johnson-explains-elon-musks-gops-goals-2038430)
    – Fast Company (B-): [Social Security explained: Are your benefits safe from DOGE?](https://www.fastcompany.com/91286995/everything-you-need-to-know-about-social-security)
    – Bloomberg (B): [Musk's Social Security Claim About Dead People Is False](https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2025-03-01/musk-s-social-security-claim-about-dead-people-is-false-m7q7me4z)
    – USA Today (B): [Elon Musk calls Social Security a ‘Ponzi scheme,’ sparking Dem concerns over key benefit](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/03/02/elon-musk-joe-rogan-social-security-ponzi-scheme/81060392007/)

    —
    [__Extended Summary__](https://www.reddit.com/r/newswall/comments/1j23ngl/) | [FAQ & Grades](https://www.reddit.com/r/newswall/comments/uxgfm5/faq_newswall_bot/) | I’m a bot

  31. A lot of people die without collecting benefits, nor do many have family that can collect. You never hear a politician mention this.

  32. Finally ONE thing he’s actually correct about.

    Give us a viable alternative though, Elon. We’re waiting…

  33. It is indeed a scam though if economic growth and population arent sustainable but for US its probably okay for some decades.

    Also its more beneficial for one to directly invest in SPY than SS

  34. I mean it kinda is. It’s predicated on future investors

  35. It sort of is a Ponzi scheme . He isn’t saying the program is bad .. just the way it’s funded

    When we were running a surplus, the government should have invested the money Ike a pension fund .. instead the money went to other government programs

  36. Who gives a fuck what this guy calls anything?! He doesn’t have a fucking clue! 

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