Wit brings up a good point with social security, what did they say the interest rate was in it's present account? 1 or 2%
That means if we had control of a part of our SS, we could put it in an average bank, and come close to tripling our interest. If you wanted a little more risk, you could place it in a mutual fund with a 50 year average of 14% and have 7 times what you'd get with the govt. This isn't for everyone, there'd surely be millions instantly lost in the stock market if they allowed it, but 2% of what you pay on SS security a year is not a whole lot in most cases, and after a couple years of people wasting their few hundred to a couple thousand dollars, i believe most would figure it out and make smarter investments.
I forgot the exact numbers I used when I calculated the potential earnings for an account with 500 added every year at an interest rate of 14%, but I remember being amazed at the earnings after a 30 year period. This is probably not the miracle answer that everyone looks for with SS, but i guarantee that we're better off investing our own money at a 6-8 percent bank interest rate than leaving it in the infamous lockbox to earn 2% a year.