From FoxBusiness.com…
The 2020 Social Security Trustees’ report was just released, and it gives us a close look at the program’s financial condition and where it could be heading in the future. To put it mildly, the future doesn’t look bright.
The good news is that we still have quite a bit of time before Social Security would be unable to pay its promised benefits, and the program can be fixed. The more quickly Congress acts, the easier the fix will be on Americans’ wallets. With that in mind, here’s where Social Security stands today, how much more you would need to pay in taxes to fix the program for the long run, and what other ways Congress could potentially address the problem.
Where Social Security stands
First, the good news. Social Security ran a $11 billion surplus in 2020, and its trust funds now have about $2.91 trillion in them. Between payroll taxes, interest on its reserves, and taxation of higher-earning retirees’ benefits, Social Security took in $1.118 trillion and the total cost of the program was $1.107 trillion.
Unfortunately, that’s where the good news ends. The program is expected to run a deficit in 2021 for the first time in nearly 40 years, and these deficits are expected to persist (and get larger) in subsequent years. If nothing is done to change the program’s direction, the reserves in the trust funds will be depleted by 2034, after which point Social Security’s income will be able to pay only 78% of promised benefits.
