Editing Social Security Trust Fund (section)

==Recent activity and financial status==
{{See also|Pensions crisis|Dependency ratio|Sub-replacement fertility|Economic consequences of population decline}}
[[File:Cumulative OASDI Income Less Cost - 2008 Report.png|thumb|300px|right|The Social Security Trust Fund will be depleted by 2034, based on current law projections. Payments to beneficiaries thereafter will be limited to program tax receipts. Source: 2015 OASDI Trustees Report.]]
[[File:Social Security Trust Fund - Cause of Change 2016.png|thumb|right|300px|U.S. Social Security Trust Fund:  Payroll taxes and revenues add to the fund, while expenses (payouts) reduce it.]]
The 2015 Trustees Report Press Release (which covered 2014 statistics) stated:
*"Income including interest to the combined OASDI Trust Funds amounted to $884 billion in 2014.  ($756 billion in net contributions, $30 billion from taxation of benefits, $98 billion in interest, and less than $1 billion in reimbursements from the General Fund of the Treasury—almost exclusively resulting from the 2012 payroll tax legislation) 
*Total expenditures from the combined OASDI Trust Funds amounted to $859 billion in 2014.
*Non-interest income fell below program costs in 2010 for the first time since 1983.  Program costs are projected to exceed non-interest income throughout the remainder of the 75-year period.
*The asset reserves of the combined OASDI Trust Funds increased by $25 billion in 2014 to a total of $2.79 trillion.
*During 2014, an estimated 166 million people had earnings covered by Social Security and paid payroll taxes.
*Social Security paid benefits of $848 billion in calendar year 2014.  There were about 59 million beneficiaries at the end of the calendar year. 
*The cost of $6.1 billion to administer the program in 2014 was 0.7 percent of total expenditures.
*The combined Trust Fund asset reserves earned interest at an effective annual rate of 3.6 percent in 2014."<ref>[http://www.ssa.gov/news/#/post/7-2015-1 Social Security Board of Trustees Annual Report-Press Release-July 27, 2015]</ref>

Some basic equations for understanding the fund balance include:
*Fund ending balance for a given year = Fund starting balance + program revenues + interest - program payouts
*Program annual surplus (or deficit if negative) = program revenues + interest - program expenses
*Program annual cash surplus (or deficit if negative) = program revenues - program expenses

"Program revenues" has several components, including payroll tax contributions, taxation of benefits, and an accounting entry to reflect recent payroll tax cuts during 2011 and 2012, to make the fund "whole" as if these tax cuts had not occurred. These all add to the program revenues.

During 2016, the initial balance as of January 1 was $2,780 billion. An additional $710 billion in payroll tax revenue and $87 billion in interest added to the Fund during 2016, while expenses of $776 billion were removed from the Fund, for a December 31, 2016 balance of $2,801 billion (i.e., $2,780 + $710 + $87 - $776 = $2,801).<ref name="OASDI_17">[https://www.ssa.gov/oact/TR/2017/index.html The 2017 OASDI Trustees Report-Retrieved January 25, 2018]</ref>

In an annually issued report released in August 2021, the [[United States Department of the Treasury|U.S. Treasury Department]] announced that the Old-Age and Survivors Trust Fund was projected to be able to pay scheduled benefits until 2033 while the Disability Insurance Trust Fund was projected to be able to pay its benefits through 2057 (and through 2034 when the funds were hypothetically combined), 1 year and 8 years earlier respectively than the previous report found.<ref>{{cite news|last=Franck|first=Thomas|date=August 31, 2021|title=Social Security trust funds now projected to run out of money sooner than expected due to Covid, Treasury says|publisher=CNBC|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/31/social-security-trust-funds-set-to-be-depleted-sooner-than-expected.html|access-date=December 12, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|title=U.S. Department of the Treasury Releases Social Security and Medicare Trustees Reports|date=August 31, 2021|publisher=U.S. Treasury Department|url=https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0338|access-date=October 6, 2023}}</ref> In June 2022, the Treasury Department issued an updated report for the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance Trust Funds with revised projections for their ability to pay scheduled benefits to 2034 and 2057 respectively and by 2035 when hypothetically combined due to accelerated recovery from the [[COVID-19 recession]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Franck|first=Thomas|date=June 2, 2022|title=Social Security fund will be able to pay benefits one year longer than expected, Treasury says|publisher=CNBC|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/02/social-security-trust-fund-will-be-able-to-pay-benefits-longer-than-expected.html|access-date=June 2, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|title=Treasury Releases Social Security and Medicare Trustees Reports|date=June 2, 2022|publisher=U.S. Treasury Department|url=https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0805|access-date=October 6, 2023}}</ref> In March 2023, the Treasury Department issued the annual trustees report for the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance Trust Funds with depletion date projections for the funds estimated at 2033 and 2097 respectively and by 2034 when combined.<ref>{{cite news|last=Konish|first=Lorie|date=March 31, 2023|title=Social Security trust funds depletion date moves one year earlier to 2034, Treasury says|publisher=CNBC|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/31/social-security-trust-funds-depletion-date-moves-up-to-2034.html|access-date=October 6, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|title=Treasury Releases Social Security and Medicare Trustees Reports|date=March 31, 2023|publisher=U.S. Treasury Department|url=https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1381|access-date=October 6, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Lorsch|first1=Emily|last2=Wood|first2=Alex|last3=Reginato|first3=Jason|last4=Hadavi|first4=Tala|date=July 13, 2023|title=Why Social Security won't run out|publisher=CNBC|url=https://www.cnbc.com/video/2023/07/13/why-social-security-wont-run-out.html|access-date=May 20, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Konish|first=Lorie|date=October 5, 2023|title=With Social Security trust funds 'rapidly heading to zero,' some ask whether the money should be invested in equities|publisher=CNBC|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/05/as-social-security-faces-shortfall-some-propose-investing-in-stocks.html|access-date=October 6, 2023}}</ref>

In May 2024, the annual trustees report was released with depletion date projections for the funds estimated at 2033 and 2098 respectively and by 2035 when combined.<ref>{{cite news|last=Konish|first=Lorie|date=May 6, 2024|title=Social Security now expected to run short on funds in 2035, one year later than previously projected, Treasury says|publisher=CNBC|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/06/social-security-expected-to-run-short-on-funds-in-2035-government-says.html|access-date=May 7, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Duehren|first=Andrew|date=May 7, 2024|title=Social Security Funds Are Running Dry. Don't Panic.|work=The Wall Street Journal|publisher=News Corp|url=https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/social-security-insolvency-funding-charts-f41a1194|access-date=May 7, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|last=Hinkle|first=Mark|date=May 6, 2024|title=Strong Economy, Low Unemployment, and Higher Job and Wage Growth Extend Social Security Trust Funds to 2035|publisher=Social Security Administration|url=https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/releases/2024/#5-2024-1|access-date=May 7, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|title=The 2024 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Trust Funds|year=2024|publisher=Social Security Administration|page=6|url=https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/2024/tr2024.pdf|access-date=May 7, 2024}}</ref> The 1990 board of trustees annual report estimated the depletion date of the combined funds would be in 2043,<ref>{{cite report|title=1990 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance Trust Funds – Summary|year=1990|publisher=Social Security Administration|page=2|url=https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TRSUM/historical/1990.pdf|access-date=October 13, 2023}}</ref> the 2000 and 2010 annual reports estimated the depletion date of the combined funds would be in 2037,<ref>{{cite report|title=Status of the Social Security and Medicare Programs: A Summary of the 2000 Annual Reports|year=2000|publisher=Social Security Administration|page=8|url=https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TRSUM/2000/tr00summary.pdf|access-date=October 13, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|title=A Summary of the 2010 Annual Social Security and Medicare Trust Fund Reports|year=2010|publisher=Social Security Administration|page=11|url=https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TRSUM/2010/tr10summary.pdf|access-date=October 13, 2023}}</ref> and the 2020 annual report estimated the depletion date of the combined funds would be in 2035.<ref>{{cite report|title=Status of the Social Security and Medicare Programs: A Summary of the 2020 Annual Reports|year=2020|publisher=Social Security Administration|page=11|url=https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TRSUM/2020/tr20summary.pdf|access-date=October 13, 2023}}</ref> In a survey of 210 members of the [[American Economics Association]] published in November 2006, 85 percent agreed with the statement: "The gap between Social Security funds and expenditures will become unsustainably large within the next fifty years if current policies remain unchanged."<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Whaples |first1=Robert |author-link1=Robert Whaples |title=Do Economists Agree on Anything? Yes! |journal=[[The Economists' Voice]] |volume=3 |issue=9 |pages=1–6 |url=https://people.uwec.edu/jamelsem/fte/fte/efl/teacher_stuff/articles/economists_agree.pdf |date=November 2006 |doi=10.2202/1553-3832.1156}}</ref>