The latest Trustees Report says the retirement trust fund could run short in 2032, forcing automatic benefit reductions unless Congress acts first.
Americans’ Social Security benefits will have to be cut by roughly a quarter in six years due to depleted funds, according to a June 9 report from the Social Security Board of Trustees. That’s months sooner than the group had estimated in 2025.
For years, the trustees and experts have been warning about Social Security’s unstable financial performance. An aging population, low birth rates and worsening income inequality have driven the program to pay out more in benefits than it takes in from taxes.
“The program has been paying out more in benefits, more than it takes in revenues, and that creates the financing gap that can’t go on forever,” said Shai Akabas, vice president of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center.
But the sooner-than-expected shortfall was driven in part by President Donald Trump’s tax and spending cut bill and his restrictive immigration policies, the trustees said.
The six-year timeline for Social Security’s insolvency means senators elected during the upcoming November midterm elections will likely be forced to vote on changes to the program, experts told PBS News.
“When we cast our votes, we’re electing the leaders who are going to decide the future of this program,” said Kathleen Romig, senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
It’s been more than 40 years since Congress enacted major changes to the program. In 1983 during a solvency crisis, Congress passed the Social Security Amendments, which in part gradually increased the retirement age from 65 up to 67 for people born in 1960 and later.
“We can’t afford to continue a system that was built almost a century ago and hasn’t been changed significantly,” Akabas said. “We really need to modernize the system for the economy that we have today, and that’s the way that we can make it sustainable for the future.”
Here’s what to know about Social Security’s future.
Why are Social Security funds running out sooner than expected?
Every year the Social Security Board of Trustees submits a report to Congress with an update on the financial status of the program. Social Security needs enough money to pay the program’s beneficiaries and to cover its administrative costs.
In 2025, Social Security’s retirement fund earned $1.2 trillion, mainly from the 185 million people who paid payroll taxes to Social Security. But the program, which paid benefits to more than 56 million people, cost $1.4 trillion. The program paid out more than it brought in.
For years, the Social Security trust fund has been supplementing spending that is not covered by the money coming in from taxes. But the trust fund reserves are running out. The 2026 report revised that depletion to late 2032. The trustees reported that, as of that year, the program will only have enough money to pay 78% of benefits.
The report’s updated deadline was influenced by three factors.
Fertility rates: The trustees updated their estimated fertility rate. People are having fewer children, which in the long term means there will be fewer workers paying into Social Security as the U.S. population ages.
Immigration levels: There are lower levels of estimated immigrants living in the U.S. temporarily or illegally due to Trump’s policies. Most immigrants lacking legal status in the U.S. pay taxes but are ineligible for Social Security benefits, meaning they contribute more to the program than they take out which helps narrow the financing gap, Akabas said.
Trump tax bill: Although Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” didn’t end all taxation on Social Security benefits as he promised, it did reduce taxes for a large group of beneficiaries. As a result, Social Security’s trust fund received less revenue from taxes than it would have if the law had not been enacted.
