Social Security is not a retirement account, where a person contributes money while he/she works and this money does belong to the contributor (my IRA is my money). Social Secuirty is an old-age public insurance plan (FICA stands for Federal Insurance Contribuutions Act). What you pay into Social Security is no more your money than the premiums you pay for auto insurance, life insurance and home owners’ insurance are your money.
All insurance is a transfer of wealth from those who pay premiums to those who file claims. Social Security is a transfer of wealth from younger people who are working and paying FICA taxes to us geezers who are retired and not paying FICA taxes.
The issues of what benefits should be paid and; should there be a cap on contributions (the FICA taxes for Medicare are not capped because you pay FICA taxes on 100% of your income) are political questions that Congress should deal with. The calculation of the COLA is an economic question and most economists think inflation is over-estimated and we should use the chained CPI to calculate inflation. I don’t get a COLA for my retirement account, so I am thankful I do get a COLA for my Social Security benefit. The COLA was not part of Social Security when it was introduced by FDR.
The reason Social Security and Medicare are entitlements is because everybody is entitled to be part of the programs. No matter if you are Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, you can collect Social Security and be covered by Medicare. I have a brother-in-law who is a multi-millionaire. He needed a knee replacement and waited until he was on Medicare to have it done so he did not have to pay for it. He is also collecting Social Security even though he is so rich that his benefits are a drop in the bucket.
One of the ways to save Social Security would be to means-test people who apply for Social Security. If you are wealthy, you don’t need it. If this were the case, Social Security would no longer be an entitlement.