Social Security benefits face big cuts in 2033, unless Congress acts [View all]
Source: NPR
June 18, 2025 12:00 PM ET
The Social Security trust fund is expected to run out of cash in eight years, according to a report released Wednesday by the program's trustees. Unless Congress acts before then, benefits for more than 60 million retirees and family members will automatically be cut by 23%.
The deadline is about nine months earlier than trustees were predicting a year ago. The change was primarily caused by a new law that increased benefits for nearly 3 million former public-sector workers who had pensions for jobs not covered by Social Security. Trustees also lowered their assumptions about future wages (and resulting payroll taxes) and birth rates.
More Americans have started drawing Social Security benefits at a younger age, partly out of fear that benefits could be lower in the future.
The popular program's most basic challenge is demographic. The population of the United States is aging, with more than 11,000 baby boomers reaching retirement age daily.
Read more: https://www.npr.org/2025/06/18/nx-s1-5436828/social-security-benefits-cut-congress
Link to Social Security Administration PRESS RELEASE - Social Security Board of Trustees: Projection for Combined Trust Funds One Year Sooner than Last Year
Link to SSA REPORT page - https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/2025/
Link to SSA REPORT (PDF) - https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/2025/tr2025.pdf
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