9 Commonly Believed Myths about Social Security

9) Social Security is raising the national deficit

Okay, so here’s the big one. Social Security is holding us down, right? They are drawing from the federal government, and building our national deficit through the roof. Of all the myths on this list, this one is arguably one of the biggest fallacies out there.

Let’s look at Social Security as a kind of bank. A really, really big bank with something like $2.8 trillion in assets. In case you were wondering, that number is nearly incomprehensible to about 99.97% of humans on the planet. Social Security lends money to the federal government, the federal government does not lend, or simply give money to social security.

By law, social security cannot borrow money. Every dollar social security receives is credited to trust funds. Surplus trust funds are then lent through a Treasury note to the federal government. The government uses that money to finance… well, the government.

Social Security lends the money, and then subsequently gets paid back…or, as a naysayer would report, “Possibly, paid back.”