An AARP survey found two-thirds of retirees relying on Social Security for income, raising its received importance.
The Social Security Act was signed into law in August 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and has been a cornerstone of retirement for millions of Americans. Social Security just hit its 90th birthday.
A Social Security Administration blog says "what began as a bold vision to protect Americans from poverty in old age has grown into one of the most successful and enduring programs in our country's history. Social Security provides financial security to more than 72 million people, including retired workers, survivors and those with disabilities."
Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank Bisignano said in a video that Social Security has been a "promise kept" that has endured, noting it currently serves over 300 million Americans who have active Social Security numbers. There are now 75 million Americans with a digital Social Security account that lets them look at their benefits if they're already collecting and allows those not yet there to estimate what benefits will look like. The administration, he said, has paid more than $1.6 trillion in benefits to more than 72 million people -- retired workers, survivors and people with disabilities.
He said his mission is to deliver faster, smarter, more accessible service and to that end technology has been revamped. The results, per Bisignano, are big and include reducing the disability claims backlog by 26% and phone and office visit wait times, among other improvements.
In an "open letter to the American people'" Bisignano wrote that when Social Security was created, the country was in the midst of the Great Depression and millions were struggling mightily. Roosevelt called the act "a cornerstone in a structure which is being built but is by no means complete."
Roosevelt expected the program to strengthen over time. There's no question that it has changed.
Initially, Social Security was a retirement program, then it was expanded to include survivor, family and disability benefits. Its funding relies on what Bisignano calls "shared commitment of the American people to look out for one another."
In other words, to pay your Social Security taxes, which fund the program.
Right now, he said, the trust fund contains enough money to pay full benefits until 2034. But rumors the program will die after that are false. There would still be enough to pay 81% of scheduled benefits going forward. And the commissioner added that "Congress will act to shore up the program before any shortfall occurs, just as they've done several times before over Social Security's 90-year history."
In the most recent trust fund report, the Social Security Board of Trustees said monthly benefits could shrink 25% unless action is taken to shore up the fund.
There are a number of reasons that money available is falling behind demand, including the fact that baby boomers are a huge generation that's retiring at high rates and collecting benefits. That folks live longer pressures the program, too. Among other reasons, lower birth rates mean fewer working-age adults contributing their payroll tax, which is also happening because immigration is down.
AllianceGWP.org also reports that a lot of our national income now sits in the pockets of wealthy individuals who only pay Social Security tax on $176,100 of their income, which is the annual payroll tax cap. And Congress hasn't done anything about the looming shortfall, either, the article reported.
"Wealth inequality is also a growing issue among retirees, with some white-collar workers heading into their golden years with hefty retirement savings thanks to corporate 401(k) programs with company matches. But about half of all private-sector workers lack access to corporate retirement accounts, creating hurdles for saving for retirement," a recent Pew Charitable Trusts study found, per CBS News.
President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" eliminated federal income tax on Social Security benefits for most beneficiaries. That's great for beneficiaries, but will also put pressure on the program's available funds.
But Bisignano notes that there are savings afoot, as well.
"To eliminate the opportunity for fraud using SSNs, we added over 12.4 million individuals aged 120 and over to the Death Master File. Further, we partnered with the Department of Homeland Security to update the records of 275,000 individuals no longer holding legal status, ensuring those ineligible to receive benefits are not improperly paid," Bisignano wrote in his letter to Americans.
Some fear cuts will hurt, not help the program. Earlier this year, the Trump administration completed what the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities called "the largest staffing cut in SSA's history."
But amid worries about the trust fund's solvency, a White House spokeswoman, Liz Huston, bristled. She said the changes made protect the fund from claims from undocumented workers. "President Trump has made Social Security great again," she said.
Here's what the trust fund report said:
To combine them would require a change in the law, but the combined number is often used to indicate how Social Security funds are holding up.
The trustees wrote that "lawmakers have many options for changes that would reduce or eliminate the long-term financing shortfalls. Taking action sooner rather than later will allow consideration of a broader range of solutions and provide more time to phase in changes so that the public has adequate time to prepare."
Bisignano noted at one point the disability claims backlog had more than 1.25 million applications waiting to have eligibility determined, one of several problems being fixed. The claims backlog is now 936,000 pending cases, which he said was the lowest number in four years. Disability hearings wait time has been reduced by an average of nearly 60 days, he said, though he didn't reveal what the wait is.
Bisignano signed the letter with "We know that you are depending on us and we will deliver."
Several options have been floated to strengthen the trust fund, such as raising the cap on income subject to Social Security taxes. Another is again raising the retirement age, set right now at 67 for people born after 1960.
An AARP survey found two-thirds of retirees say they rely on Social Security as a major piece of their retirement income or they plan to rely on it. That's substantially more than the 50% who said that to the same question in 2005, as CBS News reported.
The survey found 96% of Americans think the program is important, with few differences by political ideology.
CBS News reported that the most pessimistic group are adults in their 30s, but the article noted that confidence in the program's future "tends to rise as people approach retirement age," based on the AARP survey.
AARP outlined the history of Social Security, creating a timeline of major events in the inflation-adjusted safety net program's history. According to its timeline:
June 8, 1934: Roosevelt said he wanted to create a national social insurance program for retired workers. It was developed by his Committee on Economic Security, which included top cabinet members.
Jan. 17, 1935: The Economic Security Act, which later became the Social Security Act, was introduced.
November 1936: Social Security cards are issued. They were initially distributed through post offices.
Jan. 31, 1940: Ida M. Fuller receives the first monthly Social Security benefit -- a check for $22.54 that would be about $519 today. AARP notes that she lived to be 100.
October 1950: Congress approves a cost-of-living adjustment.
Aug. 1, 1956: Workers age 50 to 64 with disabilities and adults with disabilities from childhood can get benefits. Women are allowed to claim Social Security as early as age 62, though it's a reduced benefit. That changes what was the minimum age of 65.
September 1960: President Dwight Eisenhower signs a law so disability benefits can go to workers of any age and to their dependents.
June 1961: A minimum retirement benefit age of 62 will apply to anyone, not just women.
July 30, 1965: Medicare is signed into existence, with the Social Security Administration handling enrollment.
July 1972: President Richard Nixon signs a law creating an annual, automatic cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security, beginning in 1975.
October 1972: Congress creates Supplemental Security Income for Americans 65 or older who are blind or otherwise disabled and have "very low income and limited assets."
Sept. 20, 1977: President Jimmy Carter signs the law increasing employee payroll taxes to fund Social Security and Medicare to the current rate of 7.65%, to be phased in.
April 1983: President Ronald Reagan signs law to stabilize Social Security, speeding up the payroll tax increase, slowly raising the full retirement age to 67 and making half of the benefit taxable for singles earning above $25,000 or married couples earning $32,000.
August 1993: President Bill Clinton signs the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, raising the taxable portion of Social Security benefits to 85% for those making $34,000 a year if single and $44,000 for married couples.
April 7, 2000: The Retirement Earnings Test for those beneficiaries at or above full retirement age was tossed out.