A while back I took a few hours to do the calculations on how I would be doing if I had bought stocks and gold over my working career with the money Social Security took out of my wages up until 2008.

An update:

Social Security taxes total (mine and employers): $173,333

Current value of a fund based on S&P 500 stocks: $477,114

Current value of the gold (about 30 pounds of it): $718,543

Money that would go to my family if I died this year:

Stocks: $477,114

Gold: $718,543

Social Security: Zilch. Not even survivor's benefits at my wife's age.

Doesn't even include Medicare taxes taken out. Might do that calculation someday.