I've always figured that if I had put the same amount I paid in Social Security into stocks over the years, I'd be doing better.

But how to actually figure that out? A real calculation, involving feeding your SS percentage into stocks every paycheck, would be an exhaustive problem. I simplified it a little.

I have my Social Security statement, showing my taxed Social Security earnings back to 1970. I also have charts showing the Social Security rates every year (including employer contribution), so I used that to figure out approximate taxes paid. Easier than fishing up decades of tax returns out of my files!

I then pulled up the S&P 500 price for each year, which is a pretty good representation of stocks in general. I'd get a better number if I averaged the price for every day, but again we're starting to talk real work, so I just picked June 1st of each year as a rough estimate.

I assumed I used the Social Security tax to buy S&P index shares, and began accumulating shares on a spreadsheet.

Interestingly, as my income increased over the years, the number of shares I could buy per year didn't go up much or even went down since the stock prices were going up even more rapidly.

In the end I had accumulated 359 shares, which today would be worth about $464,000. If I retired at 66, my SS statement says I'd get paid about $2,000 a month. To match my stock savings, I'd have to live to be 85. That's assuming the market over two decades stays the same as it is now.

And if I died anytime before that, my wife and kids would get the money instead of having a lifetime's savings just vanish into the government maw.

I think my methodology is valid for a basic estimate, but if I missed something, let me know.

Now, I'm going to try something else with that money...