Overview
- The Congressional Budget Office projects the main retirement trust fund will be depleted in 2032, which would trigger an automatic 7% cut that could deepen to as much as 28% in later years without new law.
- Social Security is funded by a 6.2% payroll tax on wages up to about $184,500 in 2026, and outgoing benefits now exceed what current workers pay in as more Americans retire.
- Alicia Munnell backs lifting the taxable wage cap to $300,000 and adding a one percentage point payroll tax increase for workers and employers to boost revenue.
- Maria Freese would end the cap so all earnings, including investment income, are taxed, and she says raising the full retirement age would hit lower‑income, physical workers the hardest.
- Romina Boccia calls for smaller future benefits by switching from wage indexing to price indexing and trimming payments for higher earners, arguing that broad tax hikes would burden workers and face strong opposition.