Jan 26, 2024

A Tale Of Two Trust Funds

     Social Security has released information showing how its trust funds have done through the end of 2023. Here are summaries for the Old Age and Survivors Trust Fund and the Disability Insurance Trust fund for the last five years. You'll notice that they're heading in opposite directions. I expect that money will eventually be diverted from the Disability Insurance Trust Fund to the Old Age and Survivor's Trust Fund, not that it will be enough to make much difference.

Old-Age and Survivors Insurance
(Amounts in millions)
Calendar year Total income Total outgo Net increase
in asset reserves
Asset reserves at end
of calendar year
2019 $917,873 $911,423 $6,450 $2,804,322
2020 968,348 960,954 7,394 2,811,716
2021 942,856 1,001,936 -59,080 2,752,636
2022 1,056,718 1,097,455 -40,737 2,711,899
2023 1,166,885 1,237,294 -70,409 2,641,490


Disability Insurance
(Amounts in millions)
Calendar year Total income Total outgo Net increase
in asset reserves
Asset reserves at end
of calendar year
2019 $143,901 $147,876 $-3,974 $93,083
2020 149,748 146,260 3,488 96,570
2021 145,470 142,646 2,824 99,394
2022 165,063 146,470 18,594 117,988
2023 183,801 154,815 28,985 146,973

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I worry less about the disability or retirement trust funds than I do Medicare. Highest medical use generally comes with age. Hospitals cannot survive on the payments from Medicare being so low. Medicare cant pay more. Rural hospitals are closing because Medicare and Medicaid payments are not enough to keep the doors open. This is happening NOW all over the country. How long till it hits major cities with Medicare and Medicaid users in high numbers outnumbering working insured to foot the bill.

Golden Years, only if you have the gold.

Anonymous said...

The OASI trust fund is 10x the size of the DI trust fund. The annual deficit in OASI will soon be nearly as large as the entire DI TF.

Anonymous said...

@11:37

Sure, but the OASI's current balance is also nearly 20x DI's TF.