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2005 Annual Report
Social Security Trustees See Money Disappearing
Slightly Faster Than Expected
March 23, 2005 - The 2005 Social Security Trustees
Report shows little change in the projected financial status of the
Social Security program over last year, other than the funds
disappearing a little faster than expected. The Trustees Report projects
that the Social Security Trust Fund will be exhausted in 2041 - one year
sooner than last years projection.
The Trustees recommend that projected trust fund
deficits be addressed in a timely way to allow for gradual changes and
advance notice to workers.
In the 2005 Annual Report to Congress, the Trustees
announced:
-
The projected point at
which tax revenues will fall below program costs comes in 2017 one
year earlier than the projection in last years report.
-
The projected point at
which the Trust Funds will be exhausted comes in 2041 also one
year earlier than the projection in last years report.
-
The projected
actuarial deficit over the 75-year long-range period is 1.92 percent
of taxable payroll, slightly higher than the estimate in last years
report and the same as in the 2003 Trustees Report.
-
Over the 75-year
period, the Trust Funds require additional revenue equivalent to
$4.0 trillion in todays dollars to pay all scheduled benefits. This
unfunded obligation is $300 billion higher than the amount estimated
last year.
For nearly 70 years, Social Security has provided
financial security to American workers and their families, said Jo Anne
Barnhart, Commissioner of Social Security. Our grandparents and
parents were confident that Social Security would be there for them.
Current retirees and near
retirees can be just as confident. But for our children and
grandchildren, unless changes are made, this report shows that their
promised benefits are not secure. I am confident that by coming
together in a bipartisan way we can ensure that Social Security
continues to provide financial security for future generations.
Other highlights of the Trustees Report include:
-
Income to the combined
Old-Age and Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Trust Funds
amounted to $658 billion in 2004.
-
During the year, an
estimated 157 million people had earnings covered by Social Security
and paid payroll taxes.
-
The Trust Funds paid
benefits of more than $493 billion in calendar year 2004. There were
48 million beneficiaries at the end of the calendar year.
-
The cost of $4.5
billion to administer the program in 2004 was a very low 0.9 percent
of total expenditures.
-
Total expenditures
from the combined OASDI Trust Funds amounted to $502 billion in
2004.
-
The assets of the
combined OASDI Trust Funds increased by $156 billion in 2004 to a
total of $1.7 trillion.
-
Interest earned on the
invested assets of the combined Trust Funds was $89 billion in 2004.
The combined Trust Fund assets earned interest at an effective
annual rate of 5.7 percent.
-
The changes in key
dates for the combined Trust Funds are due to updated economic data
from last year's report.
The Board of Trustees is comprised of six members.
Four serve by virtue of their positions with the federal government:
John W. Snow, Secretary of the Treasury and Managing Trustee; Jo Anne
Barnhart, Commissioner of Social Security; Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary
of Health and Human Services; and Elaine L. Chao, Secretary of Labor.
The other two members, appointed by the President and confirmed by the
Senate, are John L. Palmer and Thomas R. Saving.
The 2005 Trustees Report is posted at
www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/TR/TR05/index.html
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