C. Who Lives Longer

In evaluating the disparate impact of Social Security, an analysis of the overall return on investment must be made. Return on investment is a basic financial principle that serves as an important metric in *494 determining if an investment is “sound.” This determination is made through simply analyzing if a beneficiary will realize his or her full investment over time. For many beneficiaries, this is where Social Security has received its biggest critique. Overall, scholars have noted that “most people who are currently working can expect to receive less in Social Security benefits than they have paid in payroll taxes. And there are differences in how the system affects racial groups.”

For instance, “a black male can expect to pay $61,645 in Social Security taxes during his working years, but will get back only $20,666 in benefits (where both taxes and benefits are expressed in current dollars, measured at a four percent discount rate).” The situation posited above spells out a loss of over forty-percent of the initial investment. “A twenty-year-old black male can expect a real rate of return on the payroll taxes he pays of only 0.73%; by contrast, a white male can expect a return of 1.82%--more than twice as much.” It is important to note that even in a recession economy, a return on investment of 1.82% is not significant by any means. However, not to belabor the point, this is why Social Security is intended to serve as just one of three investment sources: primarily to serve as a gap filler between income from private pensions and personal savings. This situation presented is just one of many ways in which Social Security has what could be termed a disparate impact upon racial minorities.