Dr. Mike Walden, North Carolina Cooperative Extension economist in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at N.C. State University, responds:

"This is not well understood. There is actually a lot of shuffling around of the funds. The money that a worker puts in does not go in with their name on it, tagged, and that is the only money they get back. Some people may get back a lot more; some people may actually get back less.

"And indeed if you look at the entire Social Security system, actually it is what we call a progressive system. That is, low-income people actually get back more than they pay in; higher-income get back less than they pay in.

"Let me give you some statistics: A researcher calculated something called the net tax rate on Social Security, meaning that that takes account not only what you pay in but what you pay back. For the lowest income households in the country, Social Security has a net tax rate of minus 27 percent. Meaning effectively, they get back 27 percent back -- more back -- than they pay in. Middle-income households, a net tax rates of about minus 5 percent. Upper-income households, a net tax rate of plus 3 percent.

"So there is redistribution, if you will, within Social Security from higher-income households to lower-income households."