You must have had a really low paying job when you worked. I get at least 3 times that amount and in reality, with the farm and rental income, it's way too much but then I do spend it and not on WW bargain burgers either. Not giving any back either. I was forced to pay into it and I want it. No vegan here, strictly a carnivore as in steak, chops and other prime cuts.
I tend to think you missed his/her point. Not everyone is making as much relative income as they did in the past. Many jobs that were marginally good in the past are no longer so. Food inflation is biting a lot of working families really hard. Seniors on Social Security only in reality generally live below the poverty level which is what Social Security was supposed to be, support for the poorest seniors so they literally didn't starve to death.
Today, Social Security is viewed as a "right" and as a "retirement plan".
I will further suggest seniors on Social Security have an inflation rate that doesn't follow government measures very well because it assumes spending on only a subset of most expenses and doesn't factor in the lack of spending on things not included because of poverty. I have personally seen seniors that did not use Air Condition in Summer or Heat in Winter because they could not afford food, housing, medicine, and electricity at the same time. How do CPI and other inflation measures account for NOT spending on things because of poverty?
And yes, I used POVERTY intentionally regarding seniors because the ones who don't have great pensions or accumulated wealth and depend on Social Security as their only retirement income are every bit as poor as the common measures people use to define "poor" for almost any demographic group you want to call out or can identify.
My pension payout is nowhere close to accounting for inflation on things like healthcare, housing, and, food in my case which is driving my choice to buy a tractor to add to my "toys" to make income on side jobs in retirement. This isn't an option for many which is why you see stories like the 80 year old janitor that returned to the high school so he could afford to "keep the lights on"! I'm glad the students got him a good "GO FUND ME" but, I don't consider that to be part of my retirement plan. And no, I'm not really worried about personal poverty because I have a good self-directed 401K and some real property income. What I don't know is if that level of income will provide a comfortable retirement which to me does not include a >$100K car, motorhome, vacation home, etc. I'm looking for a good solid middle class retirement that allows me to travel some, eat Sunday breakfast at the local Cafe with friends, and do similar things. If I can backpack in Europe or Asia, that is icing on the cake! If things really go bad, I can still eat fish out of my ponds and fish tanks (Tilapia), use my 7' tiller on my 40-acre homestead for a garden, etc.