14 August 1935: FDR signs the Social Security Act

President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act, creating a federal system of old-age benefits funded by payroll taxes, plus unemployment insurance. In the depths of the Depression, many elderly Americans had no savings left. Social Security became one of the largest government programs in the world and reshaped how Americans plan for retirement. It was designed as a floor, not a full retirement plan, which remains good advice today.

The lesson: Public pensions are a safety net, not a substitute for your own long-term savings and investing.