Anxiety Over Social Security Benefits Grows As Funding Cliff Looms
Key takeaways
- But they’re anxious about the future of the 90-year-old retirement income program and how changes to it might affect their own personal finances and those of their parents and children.
- Around 2033 the Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund (essentially a credit balance at the Treasury) will run dry.
- (You can find even more advice in the stories below.)
The 90-year-old retirement income program is marred by confusing rules, administrative snafus and uncertainty over what benefit cuts and tax hikes are to come.In an age when faith in most institutions has cratered, Americans still love Social Security. But they’re anxious about the future of the 90-year-old retirement income program and how changes to it might affect their own personal finances and those of their parents and children.
With good reason. Around 2033 the Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund (essentially a credit balance at the Treasury) will run dry. At that point, the Social Security tax dollars flowing in will not be enough to pay all the benefits. If Congress doesn’t act, retirement checks would have to be sliced 23% across the board.
This past week, I moderated a Forbes members event on The Future Of Your Social Security Benefits which covered not only that big cliff, but also practical issues such as how Social Security income is taxed and how the program’s current arcane benefits formulas work. (You can find even more advice in the stories below.)