Skip to main content
SummerOnTheWay1
SummerOnTheWay1
August 8, 2025

📋 8 Numbers Tell Social Security's Past — and Its Future (AARP Article)

  • August 8, 2025
  • 9 replies
  • 5356 views

FROM THE ARTICLE.

 

8 Numbers That Tell the Story of Social Security.

How more than 69 million Americans came to rely on the program — and why it’s now in trouble.

 

By Andy Markowitz, AARP. Reviewed by Joel Eskovitz, AARP. Published August 06, 2025.

 

Social Security has always been about numbers, ever since it was established 90 years ago this month by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signature on a historic act of Congress.

You work 10 years, earn 40 Social Security credits, and you are eligible for benefits when you retire. A complex mathematical formula determines how much you’ll get each month. A 12.4 payroll tax on almost all U.S. workers’ income provides the funding that keeps benefits flowing to (as of June 2025) more than 69 million Americans. A unique nine-digit code assigned to each of us keeps it all straight.

 

USE LINK BELOW TO READ THE ARTICLE.

 

https://www.aarp.org/social-security/ssa-by-the-numbers/

    9 replies

    GailL1
    GailL1
    Community Champion ⭐⭐⭐
    August 9, 2025

    I   was really surprised that so many people are taking their Social Security Retirement benefits at a reduced rate BEFORE their full retirement age and the extremely small % that are waiting to draw them until they are 70 and earn all their delayed retirement credits.

     

    It was somewhat hopeful to see the % of those waiting until 70 rising so much in 2024.  

     

    The numbers, in the report article, that are missing are from the SS Trust fiscal Data Base.  

     

    Year:  2024    [in millions]

    Income going into the program:                               1, 417, 757

    • from payroll taxes - employer + emplpyee
    • from taxes on benefits
    • from interest on the reserve special treasuries

    Total cost to the program:                                         1, 484, 753 

    Amount Having to come out of reserve                 (      66, 997 )         

    Remaining Reserve                                                    2, 721, 466

     

    and with the article report saying this:  The Census Bureau estimates that the share of the population age 65-plus grew in all 50 states from 2020 to 2024, while the share of those under 18 — the future workers who will fund Social Security — declined.

     

    We have a problem with these numbers big time !!!!

    Drastic measures for drastic times?

    Yep, probably so - 

     

     

     

     

    IT‘S ALWAYS SOMETHING . . . . .. . . . Roseanne Roseannadanna
      T
      Tonster521
      Community Champion ⭐
      March 7, 2026

      @gail1, I received an email (positive reply) regarding one of my replies from August 2025. So, I reviewed the thread and I don't know why I did not offer some info or reply to your replies.

      At any rate, I agree that folks have various reasons for electing SS Benefits Early. However. if one has stopped working, voluntary or involuntary, there is a mathematical advantage to starting SS Benefits Early. It is related to the discount rate (the rate of return on one's investments, if any) and the time value of money. 

      I am providing a link to a SS Bulletin that reviews the pros and cons of starting Early. at FRA, or Delaying the SS Benefit income stream https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v76n2/v76n2p1.html Hopefully, I copied and pasted it correctly. 

      The SS Bulletin is somewhat mathematical and includes actuarial concepts which most folks have difficultly understanding. But nonetheless folks starting Early inadvertently are making financially sound decisions. 

      The info in the SS Bulletin which was dated May 2016 uses data from the SS Trustees Report from maybe 2013 published 2014 (see footnotes). In that Report, the SS Actuary uses 2.9% as the discount rate. In my replies on this thread and others throughout the years, I have rounded that to 3.0% for arithmetic simplicity. My goal is for folks to understand the concept rather than develop one's SS Benefit to the penny or even next dollar.

      My reply to Rick asking for the arithmetic/math how he arrived at his results was not answered. 

      Lastly, I am sure you will understand the data and the analysis that is noted in the SS Bulletin. It is hard to disagree with numbers and arithmetic/math. So, for folks (other readers) who do not understand the analysis, simply read the conclusion. It is noted that Males should never delay to age 70 inasmuch as the percentage(s) for survival (time) that is needed is/are not favorable regardless of the discount rate. For Females, there is a slight advantage because of a longer average life expectancy, but at discount rates less than .07% or .007. That means females on average earning 1% or more do not have an advantage delaying to age 70. 

      Most of the articles and publications that I read over the years concerning this topic do not disagree with the survival statistics. Those tend to disagree with using an appropriate discount rate. As I mentioned to Rick, it appeared he was using 0%. Who earns 0% on assets, if one has other assets? 

        T
        Tonster521
        Community Champion ⭐
        March 7, 2026

        @SummerOnTheWay1 , Thanks for your positive replies. The subject, when to start SS Benefits, is probably the most discussed subject regarding SS Benefits. I hope you get a laugh when I tell you this story. I have been retired 11 years. I continue to exercise, mostly walking, on an indoor track at the local park district when outside weather is unbearable. In the Winter, there are a large number of seniors that due the same to stay out of the cold, snow, ice and brutal wind. It is inevitable that conversations center on SS Benefits and how to obtain more money. When I get "deep in the weeds" about SS Benefits and Discount Rates, some of the folks think I am talking about "shopping" at a store. This may be a contributing reason why folks are confused with when to start SS Benefits.

          Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement