What happens when Social Security runs out of money?

Social Security has thus far been self-sustaining—payroll taxes go into this big fund, which then pays out monthly checks. But the problem we have now is the money coming into that fund is not keeping up with the money going out. The election hasn't been great for people concerned about the government's finances. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that Donald Trump's election proposals will speed up the rundown in the Social Security fund by a few years. So, when Social Security runs out of money as it's projected to do ... could we just borrow more money? And if so, what would that mean for the already rising government's debt? Today on the show, how worried should we be about Social Security and the federal debt? We explain a fresh indicator to assess whether or not America's getting too far in the red. Related Episodes: What does the next era of Social Security look like? Iceberg ahead for Social Security For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org . Music by Drop Electric . Find us: TikTok , Instagram , Facebook , Newsletter . Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy