Social Security retirement trust fund may be depleted in less than a decade, new trustees’ report finds

The trust fund Social Security relies on to pay retirement benefits may be depleted in 2033, according to an annual report released by the Social Security Board of Trustees on Wednesday. That is unchanged from last year’s projections.

At that time, 77% of those benefits will be payable, according to the report.

Social Security’s combined trust funds — the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance trust funds — will have enough revenue to pay scheduled benefits and administrative costs until 2034, according to the report. That is one year earlier than projected last year.

At that time, 81% of the combined benefits will be payable, according to the new projection.

Approximately 70 million people will receive Social Security benefits this year, while 185 million individuals work and contribute to the program through payroll taxes, Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank Bisignano said in a statement.

The financial status of the trust fund is a “top priority” for the Trump administration, Bisignano said. He also called on Congress to “protect and strengthen” the trust funds for the millions of Americans who will rely on the program “now and in the future.”

Advocates for Social Security beneficiaries likewise called for lawmakers to address Social Security’s looming funding shortfall.

“Congress must act to protect and strengthen the Social Security that Americans have earned and paid into throughout their working lives,” AARP CEO Myechia Minter-Jordan said in a statement following the release of the report.

Minter-Jordan said that “as America’s population ages, the stability of this vital program only becomes more important.”

This is a developing story. Please refresh for updates.