All the trust fund transactions are government accounting procedures which have been in place since the start of SS, except the taxation of a portion of benefit payments. There are technically two funds, the Old Age Survivor Income portion and the Disability Insurance.
#1 Payouts: Retirement benefits include payments to ex-spouses.
#3 Payouts: Disabled children from birth can receive benefits based on patent workers record.
#4 Revenue: Social Security’s OASI Trust Fund earned $63.7 billion in interest in 2025, and the DI Trust Fund earned $5.4 billion; combined, that is $69.1 billion.
#4 Payouts: Medicare premiums are deducted from SS payments and passed to Medicare.
The Social Security Trust pays out approximately $137 billion per month in benefits (as of recent 2026 data)
Revenue from all sources is now inadequate to pay full benefits. The primary reason is demographics. There are fewer workers paying taxes relative to people collecting benefits and retirees are living longer.
In addition, benefits added by Congress over the years were not fully funded which was politically attractive – but not prudent, buying votes as some would say – when surplus revenue existed and the trust was growing.
When the trust was credited with (“purchased”) special treasury bonds as an asset and the cash transferred to general revenue, it was used as government operating revenue just as if you or a foreign investor purchased a bond. In fact, it was an investment by the Trust. Nobody stole or misappropriated funds.
All the trusts bonds are expected to be redeemed by 2033 when only tax revenue will be available to pay benefits at a reduced rate.
As bonds are redeemed by any owner, the government must come up with the cash (transfer it to the SS trust in this case). Given the deficit spending now being used to operate our government, one must assume new debt will be used to raise cash for the SS trust. However, that does not mean that Social Security is adding to the national debt. If the SS trust was not issued bonds for cash, cash would have been raised through other bond sales to other investors.
While special treasury bonds still,generate interest income, they started to be redeem by the trust in 2021 to allow full benefits to be paid and thus interest payments will decline.
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
“This mess is not Trumps fault, but it is his fault for not pushing a viable plan to fix both Social Security and Medicare and instead relying on fantasy assumptions of economic growth.”
No! Every Administration since Reagan is at fault for failing to push a viable plan to make Social Security sustainable indefinitely.
Reagan inherited the stupidity of the Carter changes which dramatically worsened Social Security funding such that the trust funds were near exhaustion when the 1983 changes were enacted. Those changes were a stopgap. And, they received Congressional support only because they matched the split in Congress where Democrats held a majority in the House of Representatives, while Republicans held the majority in the Senate. Everyone took a small hit – workers and beneficiaries.
Bush 1 ignored the issue. Clinton had a “blue ribbon” committee whose results were ignored due to a blue dress. Bush II was excoriated for suggesting Social Security be split between its original purpose (keeping seniors out of poverty) where the remainder would be more of a retirement plan – when he suggested individuals have the option to invest a portion of the FICA taxes. Obama had another “blue ribbon” committee that did nothing. Trump 1 ignored the issue, as did Biden – seeking votes claiming they would “protect” Social Security by resisting change. Trump 2 is repeating the mistake he made as Trump 1.
One difference is that Trump is clearly a maverick. I can see him taking this on at the end of his term, perhaps even in the lame duck session, so that he can make the outrageous claim that he alone had the courage to “save” Social Security. I don’t believe he will act on Medicare Hospital funding – lest that dredge up past failures on “reforming” Health Reform (Repeal and Replace, etc.) Instead, I can see him taking a page out of Health Reform with either new general revenue taxes or increased deficit spending, or worst of all, reduce hospital reimbursement rates to lower spend to more closely match revenues.
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