Social Security has existed for 90 years. Why it may be more threatened than ever

When President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into instrumentality 90 years agone this week, helium said it would supply economical stableness to older radical portion giving the U.S. "an economical operation of vastly greater soundness."

Today, the programme provides benefits to astir 69 cardinal Americans each month. It's a large root of income for radical older than 65 and is fashionable crossed the state and governmental lines.

It besides looks much threatened than ever.

FILE - President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Social Security Bill successful Washington Aug. 14, 1935.

AP Photo, File

Just arsenic it has for decades, Social Security faces a looming shortfall successful wealth to wage afloat benefits. Since President Donald Trump took bureau successful January, the programme has faced much tumult. Agency staffing has been slashed. Unions and advocacy groups acrophobic astir sharing delicate accusation person sued. Administration officials, including the president, person falsely claimed that millions of dormant radical were receiving Social Security benefits. Former apical advisor Elon Musk said the programme was a imaginable "Ponzi scheme."

At an Oval Office lawsuit Thursday commemorating the program's anniversary, Trump said "Social Security volition beryllium large again" nether his ticker and that "you person my commitment." But the president and Republicans who power Congress person not projected a semipermanent solution to enactment up the program.

President Donald Trump speaks astatine the Kennedy Center, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, successful Washington.

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Social Security remains acold from the dependable economical strategy that Roosevelt envisioned, owed to changes made - and not made - nether some Democratic and Republican presidents.

Here's a look astatine past and existent challenges to Social Security, the projected solutions and what it could instrumentality to enactment up the program.

The go-broke day has been moved up

The alleged go-broke day - oregon the day astatine which Social Security volition nary longer person capable funds to wage afloat benefits - has been moved up to 2034, alternatively of past year's estimation of 2035. After that point, Social Security would lone beryllium capable to wage 81% of benefits, according to an yearly study released successful June. The earlier day came arsenic caller authorities affecting Social Security benefits person contributed to earlier projected depletion dates, the study concluded.

The Social Security Fairness Act, signed into instrumentality by Democratic President Joe Biden and enacted successful January, had an impact. It repealed the Windfall Elimination and Government Pension Offset provisions, expanding Social Security payment levels for erstwhile nationalist workers.

The caller taxation instrumentality signed by Trump successful July volition accelerate the insolvency of Social Security, said Brendan Duke astatine the Center connected Budget and Policy Priorities.

"They haven't laid retired an thought to hole it yet," helium said. Trump said Thursday, repeating the assertion that his caller taxation and spending instrumentality volition destruct taxes connected national Social Security benefits.

That instrumentality has a impermanent taxation deduction for radical 65 and implicit that applies to each income, not conscionable Social Security. But not each Social Security beneficiaries tin assertion it; among those who cannot are low-income older adults who bash not wage taxes connected Social Security.

AARP CEO Myechia Minter-Jordan said the fig of beneficiaries is acceptable to summation to 82 cardinal radical by the clip Social Security turns 100.

"As we look up to the adjacent 90 years of Social Security, it's captious that it remains beardown for generations to come," she said successful a statement.

The privatization speech has been revived

The conception of privatizing Social Security surfaced astir precocious erstwhile Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this period said caller tax-deferred concern accounts dubbed " Trump accounts " whitethorn service arsenic a " backdoor to privatization," though Treasury has walked backmost those comments.

The nationalist has been wide against the thought of privatizing Social Security since Republican President George W. Bush embarked connected a run to transportation privatization of the programme successful 2005, done voluntary idiosyncratic status accounts. The program was not well-received by the public.

Glenn Hubbard, a Columbia University prof and apical economist successful Bush's White House, told The Associated Press that Social Security needs to beryllium reduced successful size successful bid to support benefits for generations to come. He supports limiting benefits for affluent retirees.

"We volition person to marque a choice," Hubbard said. "If you privation Social Security benefits to look similar they are today, we're going to person to rise everyone's taxes a lot. And if that's what radical want, that's a menu, and you wage the precocious terms and you determination on."

Another enactment would beryllium to summation minimum benefits and dilatory down payment maturation for everyone else, which Hubbard said would close the vessel without requiring large taxation increases, if it's done implicit time.

"It's truly a governmental choice," helium said, adding "Neither 1 of those is symptom free."

Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, an advocacy radical for the preservation of Social Security benefits, is much disquieted that the medication of benefits could beryllium privatized nether Trump, alternatively than a determination toward privatized accounts. The bureau chopped much than 7,000 from its workforce this twelvemonth arsenic portion of the Department of Government Efficiency's effort to trim the size of the government.

A Social Security Administration typical didn't respond to a petition for comment.

Concerns persist

An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research canvass conducted successful April recovered that an expanding stock of older Americans - peculiarly Democrats - enactment the programme but aren't assured the payment volition beryllium disposable to them erstwhile they retire.

"So overmuch of what we perceive is that its moving retired of money," said Becky Boober, 70, from Rockport, Maine, who precocious retired aft decades successful nationalist service. She relies connected Social Security to support her finances afloat, is grateful for the programme and thinks it should beryllium expanded.

"In my caput determination are respective casual fixes that are not a governmental stretch," she said. They see raising the income taxation headdress connected high-income earners and perchance raising the status age, which is presently 67 for radical calved aft 1960, though she is little inclined to enactment that change.

Some telephone for shrinking the program

R

achel Greszler is simply a elder probe chap astatine the Heritage Foundation, the radical down the Project 2025 blueprint for Trump's 2nd term. It called for an summation successful the status age.

Greszler says Social Security nary longer serves its intended intent of being a societal information nett for low-income older adults and is acold excessively large. She supports pursuing privatization, which includes allowing retirees to enactment their Social Security taxes into a idiosyncratic concern account.

She besides argues for shrinking the programme to a constituent wherever each retiree would person the aforesaid Social Security payment truthful agelong arsenic they worked the aforesaid fig of years, which she argues would summation benefits for the bottommost one-third of earners. How this would interaction middle-class earners is unclear.