Larry, How much does the average American contribute to social security (taxes) throughout their working life? I saw an old article from CNN in 2013 that referenced $808,000. Is this correct?

Hi. An employee earning the average national wage amount would have paid $76,853.05 in Social Security taxes over the 40 year period from 1980 through 2019. So, even if you double that to include the employer's share of payroll taxes, the actual amount of Social Security taxes paid by the average American is a small fraction of the amount you mention.

Best, Jerry