Is the US running out of Social Security?

And how does it even work?

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There’s no denying that Americans rely heavily on Social Security benefits. Estimates from the Social Security Administration found that 97% of adults over the age of 60 are either collecting or will start collecting Social Security. As of February 2023, about one in every five residents in the US collected benefits from these funds. For such a widely used program, it’s a bit surprising that people in the US know so little about how it works. To be fair, most of the news around this program over the past decade has been about how it’s doomed in one way or another. Millennials and younger may see the money being taxed from their paychecks and believe they’ll probably never see it again, but is the program really destined to fail? And what do we stand to lose if it does? Check out the video above to get the most basic facts about Social Security in the United States and what to expect in the coming years.

From doing your taxes for free to filing your first return, Vox has you covered:

Sources and further reading:

You can find more interesting history of Social Security and an FAQ sheet here:

For more on who collects (and who doesn’t):

For more on how Social Security helps lift Americans out of poverty:

For more on how Social Security is funded including data on the trust funds:

[pfefferle]

Don't worry, the system has it all covered. The sugar and fast food industry will make sure that US life expectancy in on the decline.

[Kholdstare]

As a 37 year old with 20 years of SS taxes behind me and another 20 years ahead of me... This video makes my skin crawl.

[Susanhartman.]

The thought of retirement makes me cry. My apologies to everyone who have retired and filing social security during this time after putting in all those years of work just to lose everything to a problem you weren't to blame for.it's especially difficult for people who are retired.

[kenmeadows]

There's lots of other factors here: we're living longer, the younger generations are having less children, housing is less affordable, income is not increasing, the working class are unable to build wealth. Essentially, more people will need it and less will be paying for it.

[dj]

I know what Congress will do: whatever benefits the investor class the most and maximizes pain for the poor and middle class.

[BaffySchenck]

I’m on Social Security and Medicare. The thing that happens is yes we got a three point whatever percent increase last year but my Medicare part B payment also went up by $60 a month more than my cola so I actually took a $60 a month cut. I literally made best decisions when i started working with an advisor

[NancyBetty-x]

I believe the retirement crisis will get even worse. Many struggle to save due to low wages, rising prices, and exorbitant rents. With homeownership becoming unattainable for middle-class Americans, they may not have a home to rely on for retirement either.

[mcryan]

Lol why do poor Americans have to pay more percent than rich ones

[nicolasbenson]

Considering the shaky economy, I'm keen to know best, how people split their pay, how much of it goes into savings, spendings or investments. I’d be retiring/working much less in 5 years, and sometimes earn up to $160K per year, but nothing to show for it yet.

[beltranfrances]

As a European, the sole fact of BEING American feels stressful and anxiety-inducing to me. Seems like if something bad happens to you, the only way is charity.

[sander]

Taxing productivity instead of wealth has been killing the economy for generations

[Yu-Xiao-]

As an ex-US international student who had previously contributed, I hope the little effort helps 😅

[rmutter]

No, we are not all in this together; the wealthy legally exclude themselves from the FICA salaried worker pool via political manipulation. Therefore, they clearly do not contribute their necessary share of proportional earnings and monetary gains for the benefit of the general U.S. population. This abomination is grotesquely absurd in our democracy.

[klf]

I don't know why it's never brought up that we could just fund social security out of the general budget. That would result in either higher deficits or cuts to other areas.

No one says that we're going to have to cut the military budget because the deficit is going up. The government can fund whatever it wants to fund.

This attitude that just because a program is set up with a certain funding mechanism it has to stay that way is ridiculous. The congress makes laws, it can change the funding mechanism for social security.

[Greggsberdard]

The high prices have affected my retirement plan to retire at 62, work part-time, and build my savings. I worry that those who experienced the 2008 financial crisis faced fewer challenges than I do now. The stock market's volatility, combined with a reduced income, makes me anxious about having enough for retirement.

[DistrustHumanz]

Missing from this video; for over 40 years, the older retirees continued to get cost of living increases, but the wages for the younger generations that paid those taxes stagnated. Almost everyone points the blame in the wrong direction; rich people not paying enough taxes, or the government raiding the coffers... while both of these combined represent only a fraction of a percentage. It is very simple. The older generations took far more from the system than they put into it. Generational theft from widespread (and socially accepted) greed.

[DavidJohnson-dclu]

Social security for he public will run out, social security for the financial markets will never stop.

[garyprime]

One alarming bit of info I remember learning from a college law class, is that the SS that you contribute is actually going to the current/next generations of retirees it’s not saving for you. Yours comes from the next generation contributing.

[bunnyfernwood]

What a joy to live in a world that bleeds us dry and leaves us with nothing

[juiceman_]

With no more pensions and 401ks that require people to invest, it’s going to bad for a lot of people