The financial services website The Motley Fool recently posted an article about what Social Security might look like in the year 2035. It seems like a long ways away, but 2035 is only 17 years away.
The story cautions that this look into the future is based on the current situation where Social Security would not be able to meet 100 percent of benefit obligations in 2034 if no legislation is passed to change that fact. The article is also based on the recently released Social Security Board of Trustees report.
There were 173.6 million workers covered by Social Security as of 2017 and that number is expected to increase to 189.6 million in 2035. The more people who are covered by Social Security, the more benefits the agency has to pay out. It is estimated that there will be a ratio of 46 beneficiaries to 100 covered workers, in 2017 the ratio was 35 beneficiaries to 100 workers.
We have mentioned before that current projections show that beginning in 2034 Social Security won’t have enough money to meet 100 percent of benefit obligations and The Motley Fool says beginning in 2035 beneficiaries will see a 21 percent cut in benefits.
Another fact the article points out, Social Security has been relying on a $2.9 trillion surplus, but that will be exhausted by 2034 and the agency was earning interest on that surplus so one of the program’s funding sources will also be gone if Congress does not act.
The last time Social Security faced this sort of crisis was in 1983 when Congress passed legislation that saved the program. New legislation needs to be enacted again by Congress, but as The Motley Fool points out, “if history is any indicator, lawmakers will wait until nearly the last possible moment before taking action.”
