The Office of the Chief Actuary works with the trustees in the development of this annual report of the financial status of the program under present law. The mission of the Office of the Chief Actuary is to provide objective analyses that will permit policymakers to make informed decisions about the future of the Social Security program. The Social Security program currently provides monthly benefits to more than 44 million individuals. The primary source of financing is a payroll tax on the nearly 150 million workers in covered employment. Tax revenue currently exceeds the cost of the program, so the trust funds are growing.
Trust funds are currently almost twice the size of the annual cost of the program, and growing.
The combined OASI and DI trust funds are expected to continue growing until 2022. The combined trust funds are then expected to decline until they are exhausted in 2034. At the point of trust fund exhaustion in 2034, continuing tax income is expected to be equal to 71 percent of the cost of the program. The program provides a blend between individual equity and social adequacy that has evolved through the judgement of several generations of policymakers. This period provides a view of the adequacy of financing over the entire lifetime of virtually all current participants in the program, from the oldest beneficiaries to the youngest workers.