There is a big elephant in the room that none of these discussions about social security are addressing. The rules are going to change. They have to change. The liabilities are inadequately funded. People are living longer and there is a mass of baby boomers. I believe there are more (negative) factors but let's leave it at just these two.
U.S. debt is now 22 trillion. I don't want to get into a political discussion but let's just say that someone has to pay that back. If we were to balance the budget today, without some form of invention or discovery to produce real growth, then taxes would have to be raised so high that it would clobber the economy. The problem is only getting worse. Doesn't matter which political party is running the country. Neither are telling you what you really need to know. They can't, and they wouldn't even if they could.
I believe that 22 trillion (and growing) debt is going to have to be paid by those who are able to pay it, in one form or another. There isn't enough wealth in corporations or in the top 1%, or however you want to define "people who don't need the money," to pay this down. Some cite the debt in terms of GDP and say it isn't that bad at about 1:1, but much of our economy is intangible, i.e., services that can evaporate more rapidly than infrastructure, factories, producing mines, etc.
I think social security, for those who have retirement savings, will vanish. It has to. People who have saved, and that generally means older Americans and retirees, will have to give up some of their wealth in the form of higher taxes. Younger generations are barely getting by. They can't afford higher medicare and social security taxes. They can't afford tax rates that are anywhere close to the amounts needed to balance the federal budget.
How will SS vanish for many Americans? It can't be through inflation, since SS is, supposedly, inflation-adjusted, and that affects poor Americans more than any other. I think it will be like most other forms of government intervention in financial situations -- through the tax system (IRS). You'll get a social security check, but it will be heavily taxed based on the rest of your income. If you're lucky enough to have savings that are already tax paid, then great, you might get your social security (provided there isn't some form of "net worth" component). For those that saved in the traditional (IRA/401K) way, or who have pensions, you can't count on social security for marginal income. What will be available will go to people who saved less. Those people will, sadly, constitute a majority within the voting block. You won't be able to get your SS on top of adequate savings by simply voting republican.
I think it is impossible to have a retirement financial plan that has any significant level of confidence. It won't be long before the Federal Reserve's ability to contain inflation will be gone. One more stock collapse with a quantitative easing cycle and we are there. Interest rates have been trending down for decades. If they flatten or need to go up then the federal debt continues to increase or balloons. If you think The Fed and President are at odds right now, well that heat is likely to get much worse.
A lot of retirees I know are well aware of what is likely to happen with SS. They have chosen to take SS at age 62 and bank the money if they don't need it. I would really like to defer until I'm closer to age 70, for reasons that many cite here about money in the latter years of retirement, but I don't think it will be there. It is an extremely vexing question. I turn 62 next month.
Tell me what's in your crystal ball...