Elon Musk calls Social Security ‘the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time’ as calls mount to remove contribution caps for billionaires

• DOGE cost-cutter-in-chief Elon Musk likened the U.S. status strategy to a pyramid scheme during a podcast with Joe Rogan, arguing thing needed to beryllium done to stave disconnected immoderate menace of imaginable insolvency.

The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, fears America’s state-backed pensions are nary longer harmless arsenic less working-age Americans tin wage for retirees who unrecorded a longer life.

Speaking connected the Joe Rogan podcast for the archetypal clip since his quality conscionable anterior to the November election, helium likened Social Security to an amerciable pyramid strategy wherever returns are generated not done prudent superior allocation, but an influx of wealth from caller investors.

“Social Security is the biggest Ponzi strategy of each time,” Musk said.

The nationalist property bureau for the Social Security Administration could not beryllium reached by Fortune for comment.

When Americans retire, they cod their basal pension, the costs of which are financed through payroll taxes. Employees lend 6.2% of their wages up to a maximum of $176,100, portion U.S. employers person to match that sum arsenic portion of their non-wage labour costs.

This is known arsenic a “pay arsenic you go” system. It is emblematic of astir affluent countries, which each copied the aforesaid attack based connected the presumption that a country’s birth-death complaint would proceed to favour a increasing population. With implicit 75 cardinal babe boomers acceptable to discontinue by 2030, this prediction is nary longer valid.

With Social Security comprising one-fifth of each national spending, the strategy is coming nether accent present that determination are less working-age Americans paying successful to money their pensions—something that volition lone get worse arsenic the Trump medication cracks down connected immigration. At the aforesaid time, retirees are surviving longer, exacerbating these accent factors.

“We amended hole what we’ve got close now, due to the fact that if it’s atrocious now, it’s going to beryllium overmuch worse successful the future,” Musk continued.

As a effect of concerns implicit Social Security, a governmental feud is brewing implicit whether oregon not achy structural reforms are needed to guarantee its fiscal viability, specified arsenic hiking the status property substantially oregon adjacent cutting benefits.

John Larson, the ranking Democrat connected the House Ways and Means subcommittee for Social Security, blasted the onslaught arsenic grounds of a program to gut the costly entitlement program.

“We volition basal unneurotic to defy these cuts successful each mode possible,” helium said successful a Sunday statement.

In response, immoderate are advocating for an extremity to the headdress that means wealthier Americans tin screen their publication wrong weeks oregon adjacent days of the caller year—presumably without a proportionate summation to their benefits.