The only way to save Social Security from fiscal disaster is to revert this federal social welfare program to its original purpose. This means to reconsider it as a “floor of income in old age” so that it is no longer thought of as a personal pension or retirement plan.

Successful Social Security reform requires politicians and the news media to honestly and accurately explain exactly how Social Security really works.

This means knowing what the Trust Funds are (they are not money) and what they do (they don’t pay benefits). Moreover, no one ever “pays into” Social Security because payroll taxes are paid directly into the U.S. Treasury.

The system, from your payroll deduction to your benefit payment, must be frankly and fairly discussed and explained. All Americans must clearly understand that these two pillars of entitlement — payroll tax and benefit amount — have no direct relationship to each other.

Social Security benefit payments are depicted as part of a “three-legged stool” of income in old age.These three income legs are personal savings, company pensions and Social Security.

How you saved money, that is built wealth, was your own business.

In 1935, when Social Security became law, most Americans had little idea of how to build wealth except by owning a home and putting excess dollars into a “savings account” at the local bank.

So, part of the challenge in saving Social Security is to improve the economic education of Americans beginning in grade school and continuing through high school. This education is more than simply understanding how to balance a checkbook, a common metric for minimal knowledge of personal finance.

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Saving Social Security is an “all hands on deck” effort; we can’t leave this reform to elected politicians and unelected bureaucrats. “We the oeople” must be constructively involved in restructuring Social Security.

Paul M. Craig

Northampton