Social Security in Dire Straits

"...CONGRESS and President Obama have pushed through a relatively modest stopgap measure to avoid the “fiscal cliff,” but over the coming years, the United States will confront another huge cliff: Social Security.

For the first time in more than a quarter-century, Social Security ran a deficit in 2010: It spent $49 billion dollars more in benefits than it received in revenues, and drew from its trust funds to cover the shortfall. Those funds — a $2.7 trillion buffer built in anticipation of retiring baby boomers — will be exhausted by 2033, the government currently projects.

Those facts are widely known. What’s not is that the Social Security Administration underestimates how long Americans will live and how much the trust funds will need to pay out — to the tune of $800 billion by 2031, more than the current annual defense budget — and that the trust funds will run out, if nothing is done, two years earlier than the government has predicted...."

Read more at NYTimes.com

Planning for Less Social Security Benefits

"...Based on this week’s report from the folks responsible for the Medicare and Social Security Trust Funds, Americans—and especially those under age 40—need to reconsider their retirement plans.

Absent major action by lawmakers, the annual reports say that the combined assets of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and the Disability Insurance trust funds will be exhausted in 2033. That’s three years sooner than was projected last year...

So what adjustments do you need to make to your retirement plan given the latest reports from the trustees of Social Security and Medicare?"

Read more at MarketWatch

Social Security Fund Depleted by 2033

"...Social Security fund will run out three years earlier than earlier projections due to boomer retirements, weak economy. If Social Security fund runs out, retirees will get 75 percent of promised benefits..."

Read more at CSMonitor.com

House approves payroll tax cut extension

"...The House approved the payroll tax cut extension Friday in a 293-132 vote, sending it to the Senate...

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) added today that extending the holiday without an offsetting spending cut would starve Social Security, as the payroll tax funds the Social Security Trust Fund.

"I'm not saying anything disparaging about the leadership on both sides of the aisle and the leadership in both bodies, but we are taking money away from the Social Security Trust Fund and we are substituting an IOU that may or may not ever be repaid," Barton said..."

Read more at thehill.com

Social Security Trust Fund FAQ

Article Link: Trust Fund FAQs

Article Snippet: "...What are the Social Security Trust Funds?..."

Reference: ssa.gov