When you become a "near retiree", i.e. see lots of friends laid off in
their due to the churning of the US economy, that "small" social
security check starts looking good. I'm assuming a 6% investment
return in my geezer years. That $1000 / month then means $200,000
less to save.

All these silly people worrying that it will be gone. The geezers are
the
most prolific voters. SS will be the LAST item to be cut in a fiscal
crunch.
Not to say they may slow down the increase formulas. Currently
SS *initial* payouts are based on national incomes which grows almost
twice as fast as inflation.