Social Security Advice: Don’t Claim Based on Worries about the Solvency of the Trust Fund
On July 22, the Social Security Administration released the latest Trustees Report on the status of the Social Security Trust Fund. The Trustees forecast a small but positive uptick in the long-term projections for the fund as compared to a year ago.
In the 2014 report, the Trustees had estimated that the combined asset reserves the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Trust Funds would be depleted in 2033, and would be able to pay 77% of benefits after that time. The 2015 report estimates that those asset reserves will become depleted in 2034, one year later than projected last year, with 79 percent of benefits payable at that time.
The projections regarding the Disability Insurance (DI) trust funds are much less optimistic: that fund is expected to become depleted in the fourth quarter of 2016, with 81 percent of benefits still payable.”
You can download and view the news release at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/news/press/releases/#/post/7-2015-1, and the entire report at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/TR/2015/tr2015.pdf.
Predicting the state of the Social Security Trust Fund 20 years from now is likely to be far more difficult than predicting the weather next month or timing the market. The Trustees’ current estimates assume that Congress does nothing to shore up the system. Even if our congressional representatives in Washington do nothing and the reserves are depleted by 2034, it is highly debatable as to whether those who “take the money and run” will fare better than those who stay the course.