The Social Security Trustees' annual report, published several weeks ago, finds that the combined asset reserves of the two trust funds used to pay benefits to retirees and disabled workers will become depleted in 2034, with 81% of benefits payable at that time.
In a new analysis, Alicia Munnell of the Center for Retirement Research calls the latest edition of the report concerning and unsurprising.
“Releasing the Social Security Trustees Report a couple of months later than usual always raises the intriguing question that it might include some titillating new information,” Munnell wrote. “For better or worse, the 2025 Trustees Report is standard fare. It confirms what has been evident for almost three decades. Social Security is facing a 75-year financing shortfall that currently equals 1.3 percent of GDP.”
These estimates are based on the trustees’ intermediate assumptions, Munnell points out, which are not a sure thing.
“Indeed, the deficit could well end up higher if the fertility rate remains low, millions of immigrants are deported, and people live longer than expected,” she warns.
See the accompanying slideshow for six of the most concerning highlights from the 2025 report.
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