Social Security funds could run short by 2032, program's Trustees warn

https://www.npr.org/2026/06/09/nx-s1-5850279/social-security-funds-trustees-congress

by geox • 1 month ago

10 5 1 month ago

Report: https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/2026/II_A_highlights.html#

“Social Security’s long-term shortfall is likely significantly worse than projected. In 2025, the Social Security Trustees estimated that the program faces a 75-year funding shortfall equal to $27 trillion in present-value terms. But those projections rely on unusually optimistic assumptions about future US fertility rates. The Trustees are likely understating Social Security’s insolvency problem by assuming Americans will start having far more children than current trends suggest.” [1]

[1] https://debtdispatch.substack.com/p/low-and-falling-fertilit...

Additional citations:

https://crr.bc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Social-Securit...

https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/2026060249/anot...

(on top of ~$50T in other existing debt obligations: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48438840)

Bender• 1 month ago

Well technically that is grand theft. People are obligated to pay into social security their entire working life in addition to all the assorted taxes they pay.

Start selling federal land and real-estate until both the SS coffers are more than filled up and the national debt is paid off. This should be right up Donalds alley. He should be able to sell 80% of all federal land and buildings by 2027 and turn half of what remains into low income housing. The Pentagon could become the USA's biggest casino with many private entertainment rooms and amazing security. The current staff could remain working there in designated sections that could have Carls Jr. vending machines. Pentagon staff get a red security badge and entertainers / guests get a purple security badge with UV hidden codes that shows who is cool. Those with a red badge get a 40% discount with entertainers.

mapotofu• 1 month ago

I think retirees need to pay the price, finally accept sacrifice, and pull themselves up by their bootstraps. They can earn $500/month easily working at the many places I see hiring for low skill labor. They aren’t contributing economic value otherwise, and it’s more important that we prepare future generations than to lose even more to the one on the way out.

toomuchtodo2• 1 month ago

The US economy generates ~$5T in profits a year. The bottom sixty percent of Americans have no federal tax liability because of how little they make, although they do pay into Social Security via W2 FICA. Tax the wealthy. Asking the old and frail to work low wage jobs and toil further for $500/month? “The measure of a society is how it treats its weakest members.” The median social security benefit is $2k/month.

https://www.cbpp.org/research/social-security/social-securit...

Social Security benefits play a vital role in reducing poverty in every state, and they lift more people above the poverty line than any other program in the United States. Without Social Security, 23.5 million more adults and children in the United States (including Puerto Rico) would be below the poverty line, according to our analysis of survey data for 2024 using the official poverty measure (OPM). Although most of those whom Social Security keeps out of poverty are age 65 or older, 6.5 million are under age 65, including 1.1 million children. (See Table 1.) Social Security is particularly important for older women and people of color, who have fewer retirement resources outside of Social Security. Depending on their design, reductions in Social Security benefits could significantly increase poverty, particularly among older adults.

cyanydeez• 1 month ago

...billionaires exist

Social Security funds could run short by 2032, program's Trustees warn

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