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Social Security Trustees Report
Social Security Fuse Gets Shorter by One Year - Goes
Boom in 2040
Funds to be exhausted in 2040, Medicare cost
will pass SS in 2028
May 1, 2006 - The 2006 Social Security Trustees
Report released today shows little change in the projected financial
status of the Social Security program over last year except that the
fund will run out of money one year earlier than thought last year.
Benefits of $702 billion were paid in 2005 - a $44 billion increase from
2004. The
Trustees Report projects that the Social Security Trust Funds will be
exhausted in 2040. And, Social Security will lose it's top spot as
America's largest social program in 2028, when Medicare will move ahead.
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Medicare Trustees Annual Report
Medicare Cost to Pass Social Security in 2028, Part
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Higher cost in 2005
cuts fund's life by two years
May 1, 2006 - Medicare expenditures were $336
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pace than either workers earnings or the economy overall and exceed the
cost of Social Security in 2028. By 2080 Medicare costs will be almost
twice that of Social Security. The data is in the annual Medicare
Trustees Report issued today, which also says the trust fund for
Medicare Part A will be exhausted in 2018, two years earlier that
projected last year, due to higher cost than estimated and
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Feb. 6, 2006 There were so many things grabbing
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Social Security Reform Has Withered but Program Still Needs
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Author Nancy Altman says the problem is not
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Feb. 1, 2005 Social Security Reform, a buzz
phrase for the last few years, seems to have come and gone on the agenda
of President George W. Bush, as indicated by the lack of support in his
State of the Union last night. There is, however, a financial problem for
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2005 Annual Report
Social Security Trustees See Money Disappearing Slightly
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March 23, 2005 -
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Social Security |
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"As we reported last year, Medicare's
financial difficulties come sooner - and are much more severe - than
those confronting Social Security," the trustees say.
In December 2005, 40.1 million people received OASI
(retirement and survivors insurance) benefits, 8.3 million received DI
(disability insurance) benefits, and 42.5 million were covered under
Medicare.
As they have done for more than a decade, 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 2006 Annual Report to Congress, the Trustees
announced:
● The projected point at which tax revenues will
fall below program costs comes in 2017 -- the same as the estimate in
last years report.
● The projected point at which the Trust Funds
will be exhausted comes in 2040 -- one year earlier than the projection
in last years report.
● The projected actuarial deficit over the
75-year long-range period is 2.02 percent of taxable payroll -- up .09
percent from last years report.
● Over the 75-year period, the Trust Funds
require additional revenue equivalent to $4.6 trillion in todays
dollars to pay all scheduled benefits. This unfunded obligation is $600
billion higher than the amount estimated last year.
With the release of this report, we have another
opportunity to send a signal to younger generations of Americans that
we, as a society, are committed to strengthening this important program
for them, said Jo Anne Barnhart, Commissioner of Social Security.
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About Trust Funds |
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There are two
separate trust funds for Social Security. The Old-Age and
Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund pays retirement and
survivors benefits, and the Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund
pays disability benefits. (The combined trust funds are
described as OASDI.) |
Looking ahead, the financing problems facing Social Security will be
challenging to address. Reflecting back, our nation has a proud history
of grappling with difficult issues. And we do it best when we work
together. I believe Social Security, a program that touches the lives of
almost every American, deserves nothing less.
Other highlights of the Trustees Report include:
● Income including interest to the combined
Old-Age and Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Trust Funds
amounted to $702 billion in 2005 -- a $44 billion increase from 2004.
● During the year, an estimated 159 million
people had earnings covered by Social Security and paid payroll taxes.
● The Trust Funds paid benefits of nearly $521
billion in calendar year 2005 -- an increase of $27 billion from 2004.
There were 48 million beneficiaries at the end of the calendar year.
● The cost of $5.3 billion to administer the
program in 2005 was a very low 1.0 percent of total expenditures.
● Total expenditures from the combined OASDI
Trust Funds amounted to $530 billion in 2005.
● The assets of the combined OASDI Trust Funds
increased by $172 billion in 2005 to a total of $1.86 trillion.
● Interest earned on the invested assets of the
combined Trust Funds was $94 billion in 2005. The combined Trust Fund
assets earned interest at an effective annual rate of 5.5 percent.
● Trust Fund exhaustion is one year sooner and
the unfunded obligation is higher than last years report largely
because of the passage of a year and small revisions to several key
assumptions including a lower assumed real interest rate.
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 two public trustees are John L. Palmer and Thomas R. Saving.
The 2006 Trustees Report is posted at
www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/TR/TR06/
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