Moneywise and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue through links in the content below.
The future of Social Security benefits is a top concern for Americans, but Professor Scott Galloway isn’t convinced the program is essential for everyone.
“Somewhere between 10% and 30% of people who get Social Security right now should not receive it. Because they don’t need it,” the New York University professor, who is known for his controversial takes, said in an episode of his podcast, The Prof G Pod.
“I’ll go as high as a third of senior citizens should not be getting Social Security.”
Galloway suggests this not just as a way to reduce economic inequality in the U.S., but also as a potential solution to cut costs in a program that faces insolvency issues due to shifting demographics. Without reform, the Social Security trust funds will be depleted by 2035. As a result, benefits for all recipients would be automatically cut by 17%.
Here’s why Galloway thinks serious reform and dramatic benefit cuts are required.
Galloway described American seniors as “the wealthiest generation in the history of this planet,” raising concerns about the fairness of the current Social Security system.
Each year, approximately $1.2 trillion is transferred from younger workers — many of whom are struggling with debt, rising living costs and stagnant wages — to retirees, according to Galloway. In 2025, around $1.6 trillion in benefits will be distributed, with about 80% going to retired workers and their dependents.
Galloway argues that this transfer places an unfair burden on Gen Z and millennials, who shoulder most of the Social Security costs through payroll taxes. To help correct this imbalance, he proposes cutting or eliminating benefits for the wealthiest 10–30% of retirees.
“I think it’s called the Social Security tax — not the Social Security pension fund — because we don’t actually have a guaranteed right to it at 65,” Galloway said.
“The idea that ‘I paid in, so I should get it back’ doesn’t hold up, since most people end up withdrawing far more than they ever contributed.”
With the top 10% of Americans holding an average net worth of $7.8 million, according to recent Federal Reserve data, many in this wealth bracket likely wouldn’t be significantly affected if their Social Security benefits were reduced or eliminated.
Galloway criticized the payroll tax cap, which limits Social Security contributions to the first $176,100 of income. As a result, a CEO earning millions pays the same as someone earning $176,100.
Removing the cap on earnings above $400,000 is one favored policy fix, according to a National Academy of Social Insurance survey. However, the Manhattan Institute notes that this wouldn’t fully solve the program’s funding shortfall — only delaying trust fund exhaustion by about 20 years.
The institute supports Galloway’s view that Social Security now redistributes wealth upward, not downward.
According to the report, “Raising Social Security taxes (rather than addressing benefits) would accelerate the largest and most inequitable intergenerational wealth transfer in world history.”
Reducing your dependence on Social Security is essential for long-term financial stability, particularly as the program faces ongoing funding issues.
To take control of your financial future, it’s important to build your savings, invest wisely and diversify your portfolio with tools like gold, real estate and alternative assets.
Investing in gold is a way to grow your wealth and reduce your reliance on Social Security, as it tends to act as an enduring store of value over time.
The price of gold has also jumped by more than 40% since 2023. JP Morgan projects that it will hit the $4,000 mark by 2026.
If you’re optimistic about gold, there’s no need to visit a bullion shop to purchase gold coins or bars. Instead, you can choose a gold IRA, which allows you to invest directly in precious metals to hedge against market volatility.
Priority Gold is an industry leader in precious metals, offering physical delivery of gold and silver. Plus, they have an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
If you want to convert an existing IRA into a gold IRA, Priority Gold offers a 100% free rollover, as well as free shipping and free storage for up to five years. Qualifying purchases can also receive up to $10,000 in free silver.
To learn more about how Priority Gold can help you reduce inflation’s impact on your nest egg, you can download their free 2025 gold investor bundle.
Investing in real estate can be another effective way to build generational wealth and lessen your reliance on Social Security. For the 12th year in a row, Americans have ranked real estate as the best long-term investment in 2024, according to a new Gallup survey.
With the help of First National Realty Partners (FNRP), you can invest in necessity-based commercial properties and potentially create lasting wealth for yourself and your family.
You can also invest in alternative assets such as art to diversify your portfolio and lessen your reliance on Social Security. Art investment has emerged as a substantial asset class. The global art market size was valued at $552.03 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $585.98 billion in 2025, according to Straits Research.
In the past, only the ultra-wealthy could invest in art, but now services like Masterworks have opened the door to art investing. So far, over one million members have joined the platform.
Here’s how it works: Instead of spending millions on a single painting, you buy fractional shares of blue-chip paintings by iconic artists such as Pablo Picasso, Basquiat and Banksy.
All that’s left is to choose the number of shares you want to buy, and Masterworks handles everything else for you.
