As maddening as that prospect is for someone who has been paying into both systems for a half-century, I feel for the generations behind me. I’ve still got a shot at getting some of my money back. There seems no chance they’ll ever collect anything.

Given the vast number of Baby Boomers heading into retirement, you’d think these doomsday reports would trigger a panic response from Washington.

No way.

Congress hasn’t moved to shore up Social Security for 35 years, despite continuous warnings of its demise. Back then, President Ronald Reagan and House Speaker Tip O’Neill brokered a compromise to raise the full-benefits retirement age to 67 from 65 in slow steps, and government employees were required to pay into the system for the first time.