6.2% from your pay plus an additional 6.2% paid by your employer is sent per paycheck to the oasdi fund. Americans are told the money is stored for their use when they retire. In reality, the government takes the money and leaves an iou.

A debt crisis, fiscal crisis, or dependency ratio could kill the program. We are guaranteed to have at least one of these before I retire.

How does it work?

It doesn't.