By 2022, Social Security outlays will begin to outstrip its revenues. Because of these deficits, the Social Security Trust is expected to run out of cash in 2034. The source of this problem is Social Security’s pay-as-you-go structure, whereby beneficiaries are paid, not from their own accumulated deposits, but from the contributions of workers who are currently depositing money into the system. As large numbers of the Baby Boom generation retire, a small number of post-Baby-Boom workers will be supporting the pensions of this large population.
On This PageDecember 1999, No. 148
Investing Social Security Trust Funds in the Stock Market
Last Updated: 11/18/99