How Much Do You Know About Social Security’s Finances — and Future?

The forecast has been fairly consistent for the past several years, projecting a shortfall sometime between 2033 and 2035.

A shortfall does not mean Social Security would be broke. Benefits will keep going out as long as payroll tax revenue keeps coming in. However, those taxes would not be enough to pay 100 percent of the benefits owed.

Absent government action to strengthen Social Security’s finances, the SSA says it would be able to pay out 81 percent of scheduled benefits when the trust funds are depleted in 2034.

The way Social Security collects revenue and distributes benefits can only be amended through legislation. The president or an appointed commission can propose changes, but Congress would still have to enact them.

Passed with bipartisan support, the Social Security Amendments of 1983 extended the program’s solvency for decades. Policymakers today are similarly debating how to best restore Social Security’s fiscal health — by reducing benefits, increasing revenues or combining both approaches.