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Social Security’s Financial Outlook: The 2013 Update in Perspective
The brief’s key findings are:
- The 2013 Trustees Report shows virtually no change from last year:
- Social Security’s deficit still about 2.7 percent of payroll.
- Deficit as a percent of GDP still less than 1 percent.
- Trust fund exhaustion still 2033, after which payroll taxes still cover about three quarters of promised benefits.
- While the shortfall is manageable, it should be eliminated soon to:
- Restore confidence in the program.
- Avoid larger tax/benefit changes that would result from delay.
- More fairly distribute the burden across generations.
- And the disability insurance program needs immediate attention, as its trust fund is expected to be exhausted in 2016.