Social Security Weathered Pandemic Better Than Expected

Wall Street Journal: “The near-term finances of the federal government’s retirement and disability programs appear to have weathered the storm better than many policy analysts had predicted—taking some pressure off the Biden administration and Congress to reach a long-term solution to keep them solvent.”

“Longer term, though, the programs are being squeezed by rising costs and declining revenue as the population ages, and they are on track to deplete their trust fund reserves in coming years as funding shortfalls widen. After that, beneficiaries would face automatic benefit cuts unless Congress steps in to shore up the program, for example by boosting the payroll tax rate, trimming benefits or delaying the retirement age.”