AARP Hearing Center
Social Security Is ‘Vital for All Generations’: AARP Leaders Take on Social Security’s Future
Experts addressed upcoming COLA, looming shortfall and more in wide-ranging call-in on the bedrock retirement program
Sjoerd van Leeuwen
Key takeaways
- AARP leaders urged younger and older Americans alike to tune into the debate over Social Security’s future.
- Social Security is not going bankrupt, but Congress needs to address the program’s funding shortfall before trust fund reserves are depleted.
- AARP estimates there will be a 3.6 percent cost-of-living adjustment for 2027, with the official COLA announcement expected in October.
Social Security is on the ballot in the 2026 election, and it’s not just retirees who should be tuning in to the issue.
That was a key message from AARP leaders during a Sept. 17 tele-town hall on Social Security.
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The conversation about Social Security “has often been framed around boomers versus Gen Z or grandparents versus grandkids, but honestly, that misses the whole point,” said Jenn Jones, vice president for retirement security and livable communities in AARP’s office of government affairs.
Social Security is vital “for all generations,” Jones said, and it’s especially important for younger workers who are currently paying into the system to engage now, so the program is there for them when they retire.
“Younger adults, really now is the time to get in the game,” she said.
The virtual gathering came at a critical moment, with pivotal midterm elections less than seven weeks away and congressional debate heating up over how to address Social Security’s projected funding shortfall.
The forum touched on a wide range of Social Security questions, including the prospective 2027 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) and how AARP is fighting to strengthen Social Security for current and future generations.
Here are highlights from the 90-minute question-and-answer session, which was open to AARP members as well as nonmembers and drew nearly 30,000 participants.
Is Social Security running out of money?
AARP’s experts were unequivocal on this: Social Security is not going “bankrupt” or belly up.
Social Security is a pay-as-you-go system, primarily funded by payroll taxes from workers and their employers. Even if the program’s trust funds deplete their surplus — which Social Security’s trustees project will happen in 2034 — workers will continue to pay into Social Security, meaning the system will have money to pay benefits, noted Bill Sweeney, AARP's vice president for government affairs.
However, unless Congress acts to shore up the system’s finances, incoming revenue would only be enough to cover about 80 percent of scheduled payments. Lawmakers need to find a solution sooner rather than later to protect the money Americans have earned, said John Hishta, AARP's senior vice president for campaigns.
A 20 percent cut in payments would be devastating to Social Security recipients, Hishta said: “That’s a car payment, that’s utility costs, that's monthly grocery bills.”
Sweeney expressed confidence that Congress would act before the program’s trust funds are depleted.
“Congress has always fixed it because they know how important Social Security is to the 71 million Americans who rely on it and are getting the money that they’ve earned,” he said, adding that AARP is fighting “really hard to make sure that Congress gets this fixed.”
Why is Social Security such a big issue in this election?
The candidates elected in November could have a big say in Social Security’s future. The U.S. senators elected in 2026 will still be in office in 2032, when the larger of the two Social Security trust funds — the one that covers retirement and survivor benefits — is projected to run dry.
That’s why AARP is urging voters of all ages to put Social Security front and center in the election and support candidates who promise to protect and strengthen the program.
AARP is mounting a “full-blown” campaign to engage voters across the country and across age groups, Hishta said. He noted that current workers are still bearing the brunt of one of the major moves Congress made in 1983 to stabilize Social Security: gradually raising the full retirement age from 65 to 67, a change that comes into full effect in 2027.
“[Younger workers’] stake in this is just as large as someone who is just approaching retirement and in retirement,” Hishta said. AARP is building a “broad army to make sure that when Congress does act, they do so without cutting benefits,” he added.
AARP is encouraging voters to join its online advocacy network and tell members of Congress that Social Security must be protected and strengthened.
What is AARP doing to fight for Social Security?
AARP is urging Congress to shore up Social Security without making benefit cuts, and to do so in a full, transparent debate that does not outsource the work to an unelected board or commission. AARP is opposing three bills pending in Congress that would charge outside groups with the task of drafting legislation to head off the trust fund shortfall and would then speed the resulting proposal through Congress, with limited debate and amendments.
“The only reason that someone in Congress would need to create a special commission to do that job for them is because they don't want to be accountable to voters,” Sweeney said. “That's why AARP has come out so strongly against those [bills].”
He noted that 81 percent of Americans say Congress should not cut Social Security to shore up its finances, and that’s why AARP is urging Congress to take benefit cuts off the table. “That is our No. 1 ask,” he said.
Lawmakers have many options to shore up Social Security’s funding without cutting payments, trimming the COLA or raising the retirement age, he added.
What will the cost-of-living increase be for 2027?
With persistent inflation squeezing family budgets, AARP’s Public Policy Institute this year started doing its own projection to estimate the COLA ahead of the official announcement in October, to give older Americans reliable information about how much their benefits might increase as they make budget plans.
AARP estimates that beneficiaries will see a 3.6 percent COLA next year. That is based on the most recent inflation data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Federal Reserve.
Sweeney said AARP knows that many older adults are struggling with higher prices.
“The good news is Social Security is adjusted every year for inflation,” he said, noting that a 3.6 percent COLA would be higher than beneficiaries have seen in recent years.
The final COLA will be announced by the SSA on Oct. 14, and it will take effect with the payments beneficiaries receive in January.
What is AARP doing to improve Social Security customer service?
The SSA has long struggled to address customer service problems, including long waits to get help by phone or secure appointments at local Social Security offices.
Jones said AARP’s push on this front is twofold: advocating for robust funding for the SSA to carry out its customer service operations and pushing Congress to conduct appropriate oversight of the agency.
Stephen Richardson, a former regional communications director for the SSA and an AARP consultant on Social Security benefit issues, noted that the agency has made some improvements in recent years, such as making more services available online and making its website available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Sweeney agreed that's a “big improvement” in online services but noted that many people still want to conduct business with Social Security on the phone or in person. “AARP is advocating for a system that works for everyone,” he said.
A recording of the discussion is available at aarp.org/conversations and on Facebook at facebook.com/aarpPrograms.
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