What is Is Social Security Worth It??

An interactive investment simulator comparing traditional Social Security benefits against a private market-based defined contribution model.

research/Data Sources | Is Social Security Worth It?

The data sources, formulas, and model build behind the research — SSA formulas and benchmarks, Census earnings data, and our per-cell datasets.

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Landing
Home — Interactive simulator comparing your projected Social Security benefits with investing the same payroll taxes. Presets, Monte Carlo, and editable assumptions.
Pricing — Free access to the core simulator. Supporter access adds Monte Carlo simulation, PDF export, saved scenarios, and an ad-free experience.
Terms — Terms of Service for the Is Social Security Worth It? educational modeling tool, including Supporter access terms and renewal policies.
Privacy — How Is Social Security Worth It? collects, uses, and protects your data — including cookies, analytics, advertising disclosures, and your privacy rights.
About — Who builds and audits the Is Social Security Worth It? model, how it's validated against SSA benchmarks, and why we publish our own corrections.
Contact — Contact Millionaire Online Education, LLC with support questions, privacy requests, or challenges to the model's methodology.
Do Not Sell — Your options for opting out of the sharing of personal information with advertising partners under the CCPA/CPRA, including Global Privacy Control.
Research — Full methodology, key findings, FAQ, glossary, and data sources — including our published July 2026 audit, the defects we found, and the findings we retracted.
How The Model Works — How the model compares payroll taxes against investing them — every assumption editable, validated against the SSA's own published replacement rates.
Methods Audit — In July 2026 we audited our own calculation engine, found four defects, fixed them, and re-validated against SSA benchmarks. Corrections noted.
Corrections — A dated log of findings we've withdrawn or revised. In July 2026 an engine audit led us to retract five earlier headline claims. We keep this record public.
Headline Results — As of July 2026, the model's answer to "invest it instead?" hinged on one decision: equity exposure. The headline grid, the equity cliff, and the Monte Carlo.
Withdrawal Rule — Does comparing a 4% withdrawal against Social Security stack the deck? We force both onto the same terms — and the July 2026 result holds from both directions.
What Moves The Answer — Retirement age, life expectancy, wage growth, demographics, and birth cohort — what changed the July 2026 model's DC-vs-SS result, and what didn't.
Population Weighted — From single scenarios to the U.S. earnings distribution — the July 2026 population-weighted results, reported separately by investment behavior.
Faq — Common questions about the model — what it compares, why equity exposure matters so much, and why we publish our own corrections.
Glossary Page — Plain-English definitions of the Social Security and investment terms used across the model — AIME, PIA, bend points, glidepath, Monte Carlo, and more.
Data Sources — The data sources, formulas, and model build behind the research — SSA formulas and benchmarks, Census earnings data, and our per-cell datasets.
History Of Social Security — research/History Of Social Security on Is Social Security Worth It?. Would your Social Security taxes have done better in the market? Model your own .
Glossary — Glossary on Is Social Security Worth It?. Would your Social Security taxes have done better in the market? Model your own .
What Can You Do Now — What Can You Do Now on Is Social Security Worth It?. Would your Social Security taxes have done better in the market? Model your own .