Social Security was created in 1935 and is the largest single program in the federal budget. The program is funded by tax revenues from two streams: payroll tax (96 percent) and income taxes on Social Security benefits. In 2025, between its two components – Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance (DI) – Social Security paid around $1.6 trillion in benefits to 70 million Americans.​

Because of the aging of the population, social security is becoming increasingly strained. In 1940, the life expectancy of a 65-year-old was almost 14 years; today it’s over 20 years. By 2035, the number of Americans 65 and older will increase from about 61 million (in 2023) to about 77 million. In 2023, there were an estimated 2.7 workers for each Social Security beneficiary. By 2035, there will only be 2.4 covered workers for each beneficiary.​

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects “that if Social Security paid benefits as scheduled, spending on the program would increase from 5.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024 to 6.7 percent in 2098.”​

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports that “since 2010, the fund that SSA uses to pay benefits to retirees has been paying out more money than it has been receiving in taxes. At the current rate, the fund's trustees estimate that it will exhaust its reserves in 2033 and be unable to pay full scheduled benefits.”​​

The 2026 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Social Security trust funds recently made this terrifying announcement: “The OASI Trust Fund is projected to become depleted in the fourth quarter of 2032, one quarter earlier than projected in last year’s report. Upon reserve depletion in 2032, projected income is sufficient to pay 78 percent of scheduled benefits. This percentage declines gradually to 62 percent by 2100. The Trustees recommend that lawmakers address the projected trust fund shortfalls in a timely way to phase in necessary changes gradually and give workers and beneficiaries time to adjust. Implementing changes sooner rather than later would allow more generations to share in the needed revenue increases or reductions in scheduled benefits.”

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The Wall Street Journal says it a bit more clearly: “Social Security is running a $4 trillion 10-year deficit.”

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