Social Security is alive, fairly well, and essential as ever

Re "The myths that hide why Social Security is unsustainable" (Ideas, Nov. 24): Jeff Jacoby writes that Social Security was originally promoted "falsely but persuasively" as a pension fund. It is not, nor has it ever been, a pension fund. It was created by my grandfather, Franklin D. Roosevelt, as a social insurance program. Workers pay into the system in exchange for benefits upon retirement, disability, or the death of a family breadwinner. In its nearly 90-year history, the program that Jacoby terms "unsustainable" has never missed a payment - through depression, war, and natural disasters.

Jacoby's assertion that the $2.8 trillion in the Social Security trust fund isn't "real" money is false. Surplus Social Security funds are invested in Treasury notes backed by the full faith and credit of the US government. Other bondholders, such as Wall Street mutual funds, would be surprised to learn that Treasury notes are not real
money.

Jacoby argues that today's retirees really don't need Social Security, but about 40 percent of seniors would fall into poverty without it. Social Security doesn't need "fixing" - by reducing benefits or privatization. What it needs is for high earners to begin paying their fair share into the system.

James Roosevelt Jr.

Cambridge

The writer, former associate commissioner for retirement policy for the Social Security Administration, is vice chair of the advisory board of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.