Greetings longtime readers! In spite of what you might have seen on the news regarding Mexico, all is well here in San Luis Potosi where I'm currently living. I'm enjoying retirement by filling my days with exercise, good meals, naps, and an overall relaxed lifestyle. At this point, I can't ever imagine returning to a "normal" job! In this post, I want to take a look at two programs my wife and I have participated in for over 45 years: Social Security and Medicare . Twelve years ago when I turned 50, I realized that Zena and I had made significant contributions to both plans over the years. Naturally, this led to the creation of a spreadsheet to determine 1.) our total contributions and 2.) the present value (PV) of our contributions had they been invested in a basic and boring S&P 500 index fund . Analyzing our S.S. contributions made me wonder... Now, before I go any further, this post isn't going to be an attack on the United States Social Security Administration and its shortcomings.…