How Much Longer Will Social Security Last?
How Much Longer Will Social Security Last?
That does not mean Social Security will no longer be around; it means the system will exhaust its cash reserves and will be able to pay out only what it takes in year-to-year in . If this comes to pass, Social Security would be able to pay about 80 percent of the benefits to which retired and disabled workers are entitled. The money in the trust funds — one for “Old-Age and Survivors Insurance” (the official name for benefits paid to retirees and their families) and one for disability benefits — comes from three sources. Here's how they broke down in 2021: 90.1 percent of Social Security revenue came from a 12.4 percent tax on most American workers' earnings, which the government collects through (and employer matches) or the paid by self-employed people through their IRS returns. 3.5 percent came from income taxes Social Security recipients . 6.4 percent came from interest on the trust fund holdings, which are invested in special U.S. Treasury securities. The trust funds had $2.85 trillion in reserves at the end of 2021, but benefit payments going out are increasingly outstripping income, thanks to demographic and actuarial trends. While the boomers are swelling the ranks of retirees (and living, and collecting benefits, longer), lower birth rates in subsequent generations mean there are fewer workers paying into Social Security. The upshot is that if no changes are made, the system will run through its reserve assets by 2035, if not sooner. For years, lawmakers and policy experts have been debating proposals to shore up Social Security’s finances, most falling into two broad categories: changing tax policies to steer more money into the trust funds or tinkering with the benefit formula to reduce costs (or some combination of both).
Updated June 3, 2022
How much longer will Social Security be around
According to the of the Social Security Board of Trustees, the surplus in the that disburse retirement, disability and other Social Security benefits will be . That's one year later than the trustees projected in their 2021 report.That does not mean Social Security will no longer be around; it means the system will exhaust its cash reserves and will be able to pay out only what it takes in year-to-year in . If this comes to pass, Social Security would be able to pay about 80 percent of the benefits to which retired and disabled workers are entitled. The money in the trust funds — one for “Old-Age and Survivors Insurance” (the official name for benefits paid to retirees and their families) and one for disability benefits — comes from three sources. Here's how they broke down in 2021: 90.1 percent of Social Security revenue came from a 12.4 percent tax on most American workers' earnings, which the government collects through (and employer matches) or the paid by self-employed people through their IRS returns. 3.5 percent came from income taxes Social Security recipients . 6.4 percent came from interest on the trust fund holdings, which are invested in special U.S. Treasury securities. The trust funds had $2.85 trillion in reserves at the end of 2021, but benefit payments going out are increasingly outstripping income, thanks to demographic and actuarial trends. While the boomers are swelling the ranks of retirees (and living, and collecting benefits, longer), lower birth rates in subsequent generations mean there are fewer workers paying into Social Security. The upshot is that if no changes are made, the system will run through its reserve assets by 2035, if not sooner. For years, lawmakers and policy experts have been debating proposals to shore up Social Security’s finances, most falling into two broad categories: changing tax policies to steer more money into the trust funds or tinkering with the benefit formula to reduce costs (or some combination of both).
Keep in mind
FICA and SECA taxes also generate a revenue stream for Medicare, which flows into the trust fund that finances Medicare Part A (hospitalization coverage). The projects that fund will run out of reserves in 2028, after which Medicare will be able to pay 90 percent of scheduled benefits.Updated June 3, 2022