Q & A
Ask Rusty – Why was Social Security money moved to the General Treasury?
Dear Rusty: Why were the Social Security funds moved from the Social Security account to the General Fund with the government? Is it not then called a tax making it an entitlement? That then gives the government control of our retirement. Most of us feel that someone should be in charge and use the Social Security fund with investments that grow our savings.
I invested my 401K and savings, and the original amount made me money during the Trump years, and I’m now trying to catch up. I make this statement because I draw more from my investments than I receive from Social Security. Signed: Questioning Senior Citizen
Dear Questioning Senior: I’m afraid I must inform you that no Social Security funds have ever been moved from the Social Security account to the government’s General Fund – this is a pervasive myth that we have refuted many times over the years. For information, here is one of many articles I have published on this topic, which I hope you find interesting: https://socialsecurityreport.org/ask-rusty-about-repaying-social-security-money-taken-by-politicians/
Someone actually is charged with monitoring our Social Security funds – a board of Social Security Trustees consisting of the Secretaries of Treasury, Labor, and Health & Human Services, as well as the Commissioner of Social Security plus two Public Trustees. Each year the Social Security Trustees do a complete analysis of the Social Security program, especially its financial status and outlook for the future. If you have interest in the Trustee’s latest annual report, here is a link to the 2024 analysis: https://socialsecurityreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/tr24summary.pdf
What you will find in the Trustees’ report is that Social Security will run out of reserved funds in about 2033, necessitating an across-the-board cut of about 21% for everyone unless Congress acts soon to reform the program and restore it to fiscal solvency. The Trustees have warned Congress about this problem for many years, but Congress has yet to find the bipartisan cooperation needed to fix the problem. AMAC (the Association of Mature American Citizens) has steadfastly offered proposals to Congress that would restore Social Security to solvency and will continue to do so with the new 119th Congress, which convened on January 3, 2025.
Please know that we appreciate your feedback and commend you for the wise use of your 401k investments, which many of our members find necessary to supplement their Social Security. Remember, Social Security was never intended to provide all your retirement income, so earlier saving to supplement your retirement financial needs was a very wise move on your part.