Overview
- The Social Security Board of Trustees' June 2026 report projects the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund will be exhausted in 2032, leaving incoming payroll taxes able to pay about 78% of scheduled retirement benefits.
- If retirement and disability reserves are viewed together, the combined funds are projected to run out near 2034 with roughly 83% of benefits payable from payroll receipts alone.
- Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Moreno have proposed lifting the $184,500 payroll-tax wage cap so earnings above that level would be taxed for Social Security, a change estimated to raise roughly $3.4 trillion over 10 years and close a large share of the gap.
- Lawmakers and advocates warn that delaying action will force larger cuts or harsher changes later, while retirees say prospective automatic cuts of about 20–25% would strain household budgets and local economies.
- Options under discussion include raising payroll-tax rates, eliminating the wage cap, trimming future benefit growth, raising the retirement age, or one-time transfers, but no bipartisan legislation has yet been passed to prevent automatic reductions.