On August 9, 1935, The Social Security Bill (H.R. 7260) was sent to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt for his signature. An important part of the New Deal was the first national social insurance policy. It would help ensure that older Americans would have a stable source of income after retiring. This was a world without pensions, IRAs and 401(k) accounts.
Workers began paying into the system and accruing lifetime work credits on January 1, 1937, and payment of benefits commenced on January 1, 1940. The money collected prior to 1940 was used to help cover benefits for eligible workers aged 65 and older beginning Jan. 1, 1940.
The joke of it all is that in 1937, the average life expectancy in the US was 61.34 years for men and 63.66 years for women. No one was actually supposed to collect any money.
Since it’s beginning, each subsequent President and Congress, have been mucking about to where SSA is deficit spending today.