You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

[FREEBEACON] The Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance Trust Funds will be depleted in the next 17 years, according to the Social Security Administration's trustees report.

We were warned about this in the 1980s, the 1990s, the 2000s, and the 2010s. Hopefully President Trump will be able to push Congress to actually do something more than raise the age for receiving full payments, which has only slightly delayed the inevitable.

By 2034 the combined asset reserves of both funds are expected to be insolvent. Alone, the Disability Insurance Trust Fund will be insolvent by 2028.

According to the report, the trust funds have a total asset reserves of $2.85 trillion. Even though the trust fund reserves are growing, the cost of the program will outweigh the revenue by 2022.

"It is time for the public to engage in the important national conversation about how to keep Social Security strong," said Nancy A. Berryhill, acting commissioner of Social Security. "People understand the value of their earned Social Security benefits and the importance of keeping the program secure for the future."

In 2016, the program took in $957 billion in income but still had expenditures as high as $922 billion.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget suggests policymakers phase in gradual changes that would allow for more time to plan but also promote long-term economic growth.

"The Social Security Trustees continue to underscore the need to address Social Security’s financing shortfall soon," the committee said. "Failure to act would result in all beneficiaries receiving a 23 percent across-the-board benefit cut when the combined trust fund exhausts in just 17 years, when today's 50-year-olds reach the normal retirement age. The SSDI program faces an even more immediate deadline and will deplete its trust fund in 2028."

"Policymakers can still address Social Security's financial problem without making drastic tax or benefit changes, but the window for responsible action is closing," the committee said. "If policymakers are willing to act soon, they can create a plan that strengthens the program’s finances while phasing in changes gradually to give workers time to plan, improving retirement security for vulnerable beneficiaries and promoting long-term economic growth."