Social
security is a sort of
retirement benefit paid out by the
United States Federal Government. During your
life, you pay into
Social Security, and that
money goes to right back out to the
people currently receiving the benefit. Some people have the
impression that you pay in, it gets
saved up to pay you back
later, and that's not true. You're paying social security for people right now, and in the
future, the idea is that the people then will pay for your
benefits.
Thus, any social security reform that allows people to invest their money, instead of paying it into social security, will deprive people of their benefits.
It was written into law around the time of the great depression.