A comparison of life expectancy and retirement age makes the situation immediately clear. When US retirement systems were first drawn up in the 1950s the average life expectancy was just over 60, a few years less than the mandated retirement age of 65. The overwhelming majority of hardworking citizens died without ever having drawn any money from the system at all.
若從人類平均餘命和退休年齡的對照來看，情勢一目了然：一九五○年代美國退休福利制度初擬定時，國民平均壽命不過六十歲出頭，比制度規定的六十五歲退休還少了幾年，絕大多數辛勤一生的人根本沒機會用到退休福利就去世了。