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1 1 (May 10, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/govepbv0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Con re &cn 2 flesE arming I len I ivede a May 10, 2024 Social Security: Selected Findings of the 2024 Annual Report According to the 2024 report of the Board of Trustees of the Social Security Trust Funds, the program's finances are in a similar, albeit marginally better, position in 2024 relative to what they were in 2023. Under intermediate assumptions, the projected combined trust fund asset depletion date is 2035 (versus 2034 in last year's report), after which the percentage of benefits payable would be 83% (versus 80% in the 2023 report). Social Security Overy ew Social Security is a self-financing program that in 2024 covers approximately 182 million workers and provides monthly cash benefits to over 67 million beneficiaries. It is the federal government's largest program in terms of both the number of people affected (i.e., covered workers and beneficiaries) and its finances. Social Security is composed of Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance (DI), referred to collectively as OASDI. The OASDI program is primarily financed (91.3% of total revenues in 2023) through a payroll tax applied to Social Security-covered earnings up to an annual limit. Some beneficiaries pay income tax on a portion of their Social Security benefits, providing a second source of program financing (3.8% of total revenue in 2023). From 1983 to 2009, the OASDI program collected more in tax revenues than needed to pay benefits. Excess revenues are held in interest-bearing U.S. Treasury securities, providing a third source of funding for the program (5.0% of total revenues in 2023). Monthly benefits are the largest OASDI program cost (99.1% of total costs in 2023). Administrative and other costs account for the remainder of program costs. The Trust Funds Both the OASI and DI programs use a trust fund financing mechanism. Monies credited to these trust funds are earmarked for paying Social Security benefits and certain administrative costs. Using a trust fund allows the OASI and DI programs to track their respective programs revenues and costs and to hold any accumulated assets from years when revenues exceed costs. The OASI Trust Fund and DI Trust Fund are legally distinct entities. They are discussed here collectively as the OASDI trust funds. A Board of Trustees manages the trust funds. The trustees' annual reports to Congress on the trust funds' status and financial operations include short-range (10-year) and long- range (75-year) projections. In general, the trust funds' solvency-the ability to pay full benefits scheduled under current law on a timely basis-indicates their status. If assets held in the trust funds were to be depleted, the OASDI program could pay out in benefits only what it receives in revenues. Table 1 shows the trust funds' key dates under the trustees' intermediate assumptions, which reflect their best estimates of future experience. Table I. Key Dates Projected for the Social Security Trust Funds in the 2023 and 2024 Trustees Reports (Under the Trustees' Intermediate Assumptions) 2023 Report 2024 Report OASI DI OASDI OASI DI OASDI Cost exceedstax 2010 2044 2010 2010 >2098 2010 revenues Cost exceeds 2021 >2097 2021 2021 >2098 2021 total revenues Trust fund reserves 2033 >2097 2034 2033 >2098 2035 depleted Source: CRS, based on the 2023 and 2024 OASDI trustees reports. In the 2024 report, the trustees project a date of 2033 for OASI trust fund reserve depletion. The DI trust fund is not projected to become depleted in the 75-year projection period. As stated, the DI program continued to have low levels of disability applications and benefit awards through 2023. Disability applications have declined substantially since 2010, and the total number of disabled-worker beneficiaries in current payment status has been falling since 2014. The 2023 and 2022 reports also projected that the DI trust fund would not become depleted inside the 75- year projection period. In the previous year's (2023) report, as shown in Table 2, the trustees projected that the trust funds' overall balance (i.e., the total amount of accumulated asset reserves) would decrease. Asset reserves held in the trust funds decreased less than expected during 2023, owing to larger-than- projected revenues relative to larger-than-projected costs. Table 2. Financial Operations for the Social Security Trust Funds in the 2023 and 2024 Trustees Reports (In Billions; Under the Trustees' Intermediate Assumptions) 2023 2023 2024 (projected) (actual) (projected) Starting trust funds' $2,829.9 $2,829.9 $2,788.5 reserves Total revenue 1,334.7 1,350.7 1,381.8 ____ _ -Total costs .------_--1,387.9 1,392.1 1,482.2 Change in trust funds' -53.2 -41.4 -100.4 reserves Ending trust funds' 2,776.7 2,788.5 2,688.0 reserves Source: CRS, based on the 2023 and 2024 OASDI trustees reports.

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